Little River is a town in New Zealand on Banks Peninsula about 45 minutes' drive from Christchurch. It is on State Highway 75, which goes to Akaroa. Little River is a great place to visit for walks and mountain biking.

Little River was once a thriving saw milling town, now a picturesque rural village with an historic railway station, museum, craft shop and visitor centre, it is a nice place to visit on your way to Akaroa. While there you can enjoy some of New Zealand’s best art on display or the local and beautifully presented arts and crafts at the historic railway museum and craft station.

When Europeans first arrived the valley in which Little River is, it was heavily forested. Sawmilling was the town's first industry and timber from Little River was used for many of Christchurch’s earliest buildings. A railway line was built to Little River to take the timber into the city. After all the trees were milled to create farmland, Little River became a agriculture service village.

A project in the making is the Little River Rail Trail. The trail will eventually run from Christchurch to Little River on the now retired historic railway line.