Day by Day Itinerary

 

Elevation of the Grand Traverse

For an interactive breakdown of the walk click here

Day 1

Queenstown - Glenorchy - Steele Creek Lodge
Distance: 18km (11.1 miles) Time: 5-7 hours Meals Included: Lunch, dinner

Your morning coach trip from Queenstown follows Lake Wakatipu to Glenorchy for morning tea. Crossing the lake by boat to the mouth of the fabled Greenstone River, you don your pack and follow the Greenstone track into the stately red beech forest. Then you return to the river and views of Mt Christina reward you as you stroll up the final river flats to Steele Creek Lodge.

Day 2

Steele Creek Lodge - Lake McKellar Lodge
Distance: 16km (10 miles) Time: 5-7 hours Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After a hearty breakfast, walk through a sea of red tussock on the river flats. Ancient pines and cottonwoods cling to the sheer mountain sides, which come alive with water on rainy days. The track allows spectacular views of the Ailsa and Livingstone Ranges as you approach Lake McKellar and the lodge.

Day 3

Lake McKellar Lodge (Rest Day)
Day of exploration & rest Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This is your chance to explore the area on foot, row on the lake or just relax and read a novel. There is an activity for everyone. Take a stroll to the waterfall, or hike up the peak named 1538 to the lookout for a view down the river flats and your first glimpse of the Routeburn Track. If you are ready for a challenge you can climb higher to the untracked tops and marvel the mountain scenery.

Day 4

Lake McKellar Lodge - Lake Mackenzie Lodge
Distance: 16km (10 miles) Time: 5-6 hours Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today you cross the main divide via the Greenstone Saddle and glimpse mountains and lakes through lush forest. You meet the Routeburn Track at Lake Howden and have the option to make the ascent to Key Summit. Here you can sit among the alpine plants and gaze down three valleys from which water flows to three different coasts.

You then descend back down to Lake Howden hut for a hot drink and picnic lunch, before gradually climbing through lush silver beech forest to the base of Earland Falls, quite a sight in wet weather! You will look over the Hollyford Valley to the ice capped Darren Mountains before descending to the splendid lodge at Lake Mackenzie where refreshments, a hot shower, three course meal and a comfortable bed are waiting.

Day 5

Lake Mackenzie Lodge - Routeburn Falls Lodge via Harris Saddle
Distance: 15km (9 miles) Time: 5-7 hours Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

You leave the ancient forest draped in moss and lichen and enter the world of daisies, buttercups, gentians and edelweiss. Here you have a full vista of the Darren Mountains across the Hollyford Valley, which slices through Fiordland to the distant Tasman Sea at Martins Bay. After lunch at the Harris Saddle, you can ascend Conical Hill for a panoramic view of the surrounding peaks. After walking around Lake Harris you descend into the upper basins of the Routeburn Valley, with the towering mountains above. You spend your second night of luxury at Routeburn Falls Lodge, a favoured haunt of the alpine parrot; the kea.

Day 6

Routeburn Falls Lodge - Glenorchy - Queenstown
Distance: 10km (6 miles) Time: 3-4 hours Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Take time to enjoy the dramatic landscape around the Falls, before descending to the alpine pastures of the Routeburn Flats. Your guides will take the scenic route through the meadows and find the deepest green pool for you to picnic beside. The track shadows the river as it roars through a magnificent gorge before plunging beneath the unyielding rocks at the Sump. From here it is a gentle walk through the beech forest to the Road End. A coach will take you back to Queenstown, stopping at Glenorchy for refreshments and a group photograph.

That evening you will meet at a Queenstown restaurant for a celebration dinner at 6.30pm where you will be presented with your group photo and certificate of achievement.