The Putangirua Pinnacles are a geological formation and one of NZ's best examples of badlands erosion.They consist of a large number of huge earth pillars or hoodoos located at the head of a valley in the Aorangi Ranges, on the North Island of New Zealand, in the Wellington region. Part of the Paths of the Dead sequence in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was filmed on location here,