A highlight of any trip to Lake Wanaka is the opportunity to get into the backcountry and enjoy our wide open spaces. Don't forget to to register your hiking intentions and pay hut fees when going into the Mt Aspiring National Park.
1. Fern Burn picnic, hut, no dogs, Te Araroa, DOC
Fern Burn Hut 3-4hr – 7km
The Wanaka end of the challenging, multi-day Motatapu Track provides an enjoyable day or overnight walk into the Fern Burn Hut. It begins with easy travel along the Fern Burn, to pass through steeper country as the burn narrows and cascades down through remnant beech forest. Above the treeline the track climbs through upland tussock to the hut.
2. Aspiring Hut
A walk of 2 - 3 hours to the historic stone Aspiring Hut over open valley floor in the West Matukituki Valley.
3. Wilkin Valley
Tramps of 1 to 4 days to the Upper Wilkin River, alpine lakes and side valleys.
4. Gillespie Pass
A round trip of 3 - 4 days from Makarora, linking the Young, Siberia and Wilkin Valleys via Gillespie Pass (1,490 metres). One of the best round trips in the Mt Aspiring National Park
5. The West Matukituki
The West Matukituki is popular for trampers and climbers en route to Mt Aspiring. It offers a gorgeous sequence of open flats and beech forest, as well as inspiring vistas of the surrounding peaks, and optional routes off the valley floor for the more experienced eg. French Ridge Hut, Liverpool Bivy and the Dart Hut via Cascade Saddle.
For more details on these walks and further information contact:
Department of Conservation
Lake Wanaka Area Office
PO Box 93
Lake Wanaka
New Zealand.
Ph 64 3 443 7660 Fax 64 3 443 8777 Email: mtaspiringvc@doc.govt.nz
A great package for those looking for some affordable fun on the slopes with a group of friends but ...
