Advice hiking in Queenstown / Wanaka area
I am coming to New Zealand for a week or so at the start of January next year and was hoping to do a 1 or 2 night hike whilst there. For the hike looking for great scenery and the fewer people the better. Very happy to camp as opposed to stay in huts. I am flying into Queenstown and planning on driving from there up to Christchurch to fly out. I will be with a companion and have done a fair bit of hiking before and are reasonably fit. I have listed some thoughts below on potential hikes and would appreciate any comments on these and any other suggestions of other hikes.
- I had initally thought to do the routeburn track(I realise this wil be crowded but thought the spectacular scenery would make it worthwhile) but unfortunately the hut and campsites at Lake Mackenzie are booked out for the week i am there. One option would be to stay at routeburn flats and walk to lake howden in a day, would this be possible for a reasonably fit person to do without killing themselves? Would another option be to stay at the non DOC campsite at the head Lake Mackenzie that I read about on this site? Is it generally easy to find spots 500m+ off the track to camp at?
- Hump Ridge track. I know this is not that close to Queenstown but thought that the scenery looked pretty good and they have availability
- Gillespie Pass circuit. thought trhis looks good with the added excitement of a jet boat ride.
Any advice about what would be the best option would be appreciated.
32 comments
Hmmm huts with stoves that aren't Great Walks... maybe the Hump Ridge track? Not sure about that one.
In the Queenstown/Wanaka area you are spoilt for choices on where to tramp. Caples-Greenstone, West Matukituki (its gets quieter once you are past the Rob Roy glacier turn off), East Matukituki (although you will need a tent for this one), Wilkin, Gillespie Pass circuit (can be quite crowded at Siberia hut), Mt Brewster, Upper Makarora valley.
The Milford isnt actually too bad. Sure you share the hut with 40 people each night but as everyone walks in the same direction you can often have the track all to yourself, especially if you leave early.
Yeah a stove isn't too essential really.
Cheers for the list. My little bother and his girlfriend will only have time to do one walk before they leave, got a favourite?
routeburn is well worth it despite being a great walk.. fantastic scenery and hut sites, lakes,
and or five passes next to the routeburn, do some reason on that trip, its not all marked...
kepler is great as well despite being a great walk, in good visibility , fantastic vistas. at least you're guaranteed a bunk on the great walks....
the road past makarora is closed until further notice at the moment due to a slip so that rules out the west coast , might rule out brewster..
or theres the motutapu
http://doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/otago/wanaka-makarora/motatapu-track/
http://doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/otago/
Would you say the Routeburn is worth braving crowds for? And more so than the Rees-Dart?
definitely, much more varied scenery,
rees dart isnt nearly as good without the cascade saddle.
Aspiring hut in the West Matukituki has gas stoves over the summer months. You need to buy a special hut pass at the Wanaka DoC office to stay there as its actually an alpine club hut.
My favourite 3-4 day trip would be the Gillespie Pass, but yes the Routeburn is fantastic as well. Its a pity you don't have time for more trips.
Hmmm... so Rees-Dart is tougher, muddier, has worse stream crossings, no guaranteed space in the huts, and is not as scenic as Routeburn if Cascade Saddle still has avalanche danger at the time? I wonder, does Routeburn have any good non-technical scrambles to highpoints that can be done in early November? That's one of the things that really appeals to me about Cascade Saddle. Call me crazy, but I like doing 35 degree climbs on all fours more than 10 degree climbs on trail (though being on a great trail is still pretty awesome).
Five Passes is amazing, but you do need tramping experience, a tent, and resonable weather. It is off track and quite exposed to bad weather in several places. Lots of 35 degree climbs!
Haven't done the Routeburn but it looks nice. We're actually warming up on the Milford this late October.
Rees/Dart we did in January over 10 years ago, and it was obviously quieter then. It is great if you take the time to visit the Dart Glacier and Cascade Saddle. Two nights at Dart Hut, or take a tent up. The Dart Valley has some great views that we missed due to low cloud.
Upper Wilkin Valley is interesting, you can day walk from Top Forks Hut to Waterfall Valley, which is stunning. In Nov might still be an avalanche risk? (we did it in February, I think). With a tent, in the right conditions (no snow or water on the "Waterfall Face" - it's actually a very steep snow grass traverse) you can then proceed over Rabbit Pass to Ruth Flat and the East Matukituki.
With a tent, you can also to the East Matukituki from Cameron Flat. Bleddisloe Gorge, Dragonfly Peak, or Rainbow Stream and Sisyphus Peak. All good adventurous fun, not for the faint hearted.
There are reports and photos of all of these tramps on this website. That might give you more of an idea.
Theres plenty of off track stuff you could do branching off the Routeburn but I wouldn't do it in November, too much snow and avalanche risk. A summit of Ocean Peak, a trip up to Lake Wilson with a summit of Mt Erebus, Emily Pass, Upper Sunny Creek. With Alpine gear you can traverse the Alisa Mountains.
Search the forums
| Forum | Tracks, routes, and huts |
|---|---|
| Started by | sjosha |
| On | 8 December 2011 |
| Replies | 31 |
| Permanent link | |
Participation in the forums signifies acceptance of forum rules.
In order to manage spam, new members are limited to 1 post every 10 minutes.
Formatting your posts
The forums support MarkDown syntax. Following is a quick reference.
| Type this... | To get this... | |
|---|---|---|
| Italic | *Italic text* | *Italic text* |
| Bold | **Bold text** | **Bold text** |
| Quoted text | > Quoted text | > Quoted text |
| Emojis | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: | :smile: :+1: :astonished: :heart: |
| Lists |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
- item 1 - item 2 - item 3 |
| Links | https://tramper.nz | https://tramper.nz |
| Images |  URL/of/image |
 |
| Mentions | @username | @username |