Trekking New Zealand: The South Island Beyond the Great Walks

Routeburn Track

Photo: Or Hiltch

Olivia Dwyer has chiller alternatives to a 6 Great Walks upon a island.

New Zealand has 9 directed towards Great Walks networks of trails as well as backcountry huts 6 of that have been upon a South Island. While these marks live up to a title, lesser-known walks upon a island have been just as pretty, price less, as well as see not as big crowds.

Setting a Scene: The South Islands 6 Great Walks

1. In a northern partial of a South Island, a Abel Tasman Coast Track is important for golden-sand beaches as well as is mobbed by hikers of all abilities in a summer due to a peaceful gradient.

Kepler Track

Photo: Tim Musson

2. The Heaphy Track is a longest Great Walk as well as starts north of a Abel Tasman, circuitous from Golden Bay through forest as well as along coastline to a wild West Coast.

3. The next cluster of Great Walks straddles Fiordland as well as Mt. Aspiring National Parks in a southern reaches of a island. The Routeburn Track starts near Glenorchy, a locale during a distant finish of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown. It traverses dramatic valleys past alpine lakes as well as views of a jagged Fiordland peaks, finally attack a Te Anau-Milford Highway, that leads into Milford Sound.

4. Also with a confine during a highway is a Milford Track, though during a tall deteriorate it can usually be trekked a single way, commencement during a trailhead upon Lake Te Anau around H2O taxi.

5. The Kepler Track starts during a southern finish of Lake Te Anau as well as is remarkable for a alpine ridges that indicate overwhelming views of a Fiordland sounds.

6. Stewart Island is a southern apparat! us to a South Island, as well as home to a Rakiura Track. It takes an hour upon a ferry from Bluff to strech a islands single town, Oban, as well as birdwatchers similar to to transport here to see kiwi as well as other local species.

6 Lesser-Known Walks upon a South Island

I visited New Zealand seeking for a wilderness that diverged from a price tags, peaceful trails, as well as crowds found upon a Great Walks during a rise summer season.

I wandered a South Island for three months. Here have been my a one preferred lesser-known hikes, commencement with Stewart Island as well as working towards a Abel Tasman. Check out a websites related for trail info.

Fur sign upon Stewart Island

Photo: reurinkjan

1. The Department of Conservation describes a Rakiura Track as an introduction to Stewart Island. For a real thing, start during Oban as well as travel dual days to Mason Bay, a meeting indicate for hikers returning to civilization from a formidable 10-day Northern Circuit as well as those upon a shorter though severe Southern Circuit.

This makes for good story swapping in a pristine 20-bunk hut, as well as theres a 12-mile beach as well as rolling dunes for birdwatching. we woke up to kiwis pecking during a weed outward my bunkroom, a usual experience if a logbook is to be believed.

2. we found a many appropriate Fiordland has to indicate upon a Gertrude Saddle, a day travel off a Te Anau-Milford Highway. The trail rises from a peaceful hollow to high sections finish with chains bolted over unclothed stone to Black Lake as well as unclothed stone slopes to strech a saddle.

I had a transparent day, as well as from a tip we could see a blue of Milford Sound peeking through a bony mountains.

3. To experience view similar to a Routeburn though with an additional shot of adrenaline, stand a Cascade S! addle.

I spent a night in Mt. Aspiring Hut, starting a high stand to a saddle prior to sunrise. As we scrambled up a single side of a Matukituki Valley, a suns regard crept over a plateau during my back.

Above treeline, a tussock slope feels almost vertical, as well as a trail wanders along cliffs that thrust true to a hollow floor. The endorphins surging through me during a finish of this stand done me feel as if we could fly off a 1,000-meter cliff during a tip as well as soar across a hollow to a limit of Mt. Aspiring.

The skirmish around a edge of Dart Glacier was a unique experience, as well as a Dart Valley mirrors a demeanour of a Routeburn Track.

Mt Cook Area, New Zealand

Photo: katclay

4. None of a Great Walks upon a South Island indicate a brush with Aoraki (Mt. Cook), New Zealands highest peak. To get a ambience of a serious mountaineering that goes upon in a Aoraki area, we went with Mt. Ollivier, a initial towering Sir Edmund Hillary summited.

Its a high stand to strech Mueller Hut during 1,800 meters, as well as then a short journey over scree slopes as well as boulders to a summit. The prerogative is panoramic views of Mt. Cook as well as a surrounding ranges, valleys, as well as glaciers.

On my descent, we assimilated a friendly proffer wardens during Mueller Hut for a cuppa whilst we listened for avalanches as well as they common photos of jot down snowfall from years past.

5. The dual starting points for a Heaphy Track have been in isolated locations, as well as it takes about five hours to drive between a trailheads. For a some-more flexible lane with similarly monumental landscapes, we indicate a Travers-Sabine Circuit, that is abounding in side trips as well as swap paths.

I began along Lake Rotoitis edge, rock climbing a Cascade Track along Hukere Stream to Angelus Hut a purists way, a man w! e met up on a trail called it.

The Mt. Cedric Route from Angelus to Sabine Hut is an alpine ridge travel that rivals a views found upon a Keplers ridges, whilst a Travers Saddle is a gentler cousin to a Cascade Saddle. Along a total circuit were a clearest rivers as well as many pleasing waterfalls we had seen outward Fiordland.

6. The sun, beaches, as well as wildlife of a Abel Tasman have been so erotically appealing that a formidable to bypass it altogether. For a small sampling of what sets it apart, Id suggest a revisit to a Whariwharangi Hut.

The many appropriate approach to strech it is by driving from a nearby locale of Takaka to Totaranui Beach as well as picking up a Abel Tasman Track there. Totaranui is a final stop for H2O taxis, meaning this is where many hikers finish their trip.

I start here, streamer north to revisit a sign colony during Separation Point as well as circuitous my approach to Whariwharangi. From there, a overland lane back to Totaranui offers views of Wainui Inlet as well as Golden Bay.

New Zealand beach

Photo: anthrovik

General Tips
  • Planning a trip during a commencement or finish of a November-March rise deteriorate will improve a contingency of carrying trails as well as huts to yourself.
  • Carrying a tent opens up some-more options when formulation a route, as well as staying during campsites upon Great Walks is reduction costly than bedding down in a backcountry huts.
  • Use a website of New Zealands Department of Conservation, that protects as well as manages parks as well as reserves in a country. DOC offers recommendation upon how to devise a trip in a backcountry, together with what rigging to take as well as how to make use of a system for classifying a marks difficulty.
  • Take Matadors recommendation upon 5 Essential Rules for Low-Impact Hiking as well as 10 Tips for Safe as wel! l as Com fortable Winter Hiking.

Community Connection

To make time to explore all of a routes listed above, cruise learning How to Work New Zealands Wineries.


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