Day by Day Itinerary

 

Elevation of the Routeburn Track

For an interactive breakdown of the walk click here

Day 1

Queenstown - Te Anau - The Divide - Lake Mackenzie Lodge
Distance: 13km (8 miles) Time: 5-6 hours Meals Included: Lunch, dinner

Your adventure begins with a coach ride from Queenstown to the Divide on the scenic Milford Road, stopping at Te Anau for morning tea. You will climb the wide and well formed track from the Divide to the optional 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 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 2

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 Martin’s 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 3

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.