What are the best walks in new zealand , whereabouts are these, the time needed and the distances?

Show all answers

Picola

there are 8 walks in NZ that are considered "great walks" (basically just a catergory name they use to distinguish them as the "best" walks) also there the whanaganui river journey (a kayaking trip) which also falls into the "great" category.

your best bet would be to go to Fiordland national park (Te Anau or Queenstown would be the towns to base yourself in)

From there is the Kepler track which is 60.5km and can be done over 3 to 4 days. I did this track in November last year and did it over 3 days, 2 nights ending the track at a swing bridge called rainbow reach which cuts the last 9.5km of flat bush walking off the trip. this is an option that many people choose to do. I highly recommend this track and its one of the easiest in terms of transport to and from the track. You can actually walk to the start and finish of the track from Te Anau.

the most highly acclaimed track is actually the milford track, however many tramping enthusiast consider both the Kepler and the Routeburn track to be superior in terms of the mountain scenery (they can also be a bit quieter than the milford which gets booked up VERY quickly)
the walking season for these 3 tracks (which are in all in the fiorland/mt aspiring national parks) is late October to Late April with bookings opening July the 1st for the next season.

I have also done both the Queen Charlotte track and the Abel Tasman track (another great walk) these 2 are also both fantastic walks but the one thing you have to be careful with on the abel tasman are the tides. often you have to book a water taxi to transport you across one or two of the tidle spots because it gets quite high! this is fun though.
The abel tasman can take from 4-5 days
the queens charlotte 4 days - its 70km so the walking distances are quite long BUT the bonus is you get your packs transported to each place by boat for you.
the Queen charlotte track is also kind of what i'd call "glorified" tramping in that there are stores along the way where you can purchase wine and beer, hot chips, chocolate etc AND you have hot showers!!
check out http://doc.govt.nz/templates/ByRegionLanding.aspx?id=35796
thats a direct link to all the tracks and walks in NZ.
the Doc site is fantastic! it has day by day descriptions of all the tracks and its through DOC that you book.
and check out this link http://queencharlottetrack.co.nz/
for the queen charlotte track
Good Luck, tramping in NZ is a truely magical experience :-)

EDIT: yes you need to book! for all the major walks in which you'll be staying in huts: bookings for the kepler, routeburn, milford, hollyford open on july 1st, you can keep an eye on numbers on their website after that, a couple of months ahead though for sure.
the abel tasman and heaphy tracks up in nelson/kahurangi national park are all year tracks you could book for january on those tracks now if you knew your dates, people have already made bookings. huts generally have anywhere from 20 to 45 bunks.
for the tongariro northern circuit in the north island (which if you do the WHOLE trip not just the day trip is 3-4 days, just works on a first in first served basis but the others all do sell out so be warned
honestly check out the DOC website if gives you ALL the info you could possibly need. The south island has 6 of the great walks, the north island has 2 and the river journey. if your wanting to experience a number of walks in your time then your time would definetly be best spent in the south island, first in fiordland, then you go up north and do the abel tasman (many swimming opportunities for summer!) and the heaphy track. remember to pack insect repellent!

Les R

There are numerous walks available. One I highly recommend is the Queen Charlotte track in the Marlborough Sounds, top of South Island, NZ. The full walk is 71 kms, takes 3-5 days walking, or can be done on mountain bike time depends on how fast you pedal, country is flat to steep hills, coastal scenery on both sides, many resorts/backpackers to stay at. for further full information contact Endeavour Express on my blog, category Travel - see my profile.

For the QC track about 4 days booking notice would be OK.

amo amas amat...

you should try the tongerreiro (i appologise for my spelling) crossing - it is absolutely stunning but is very challenging and i would recommend that you only do it if you are physically fit.

â™ â˜†à®blaahà®â˜…â™

you should totally do the tongariro crossing. we learnt about it in my geography class at school(its in the tongariro volcanic centre, in the middle of the north island). our class even went there and it was tiring but so worth it. it was about 8 hours long and it was approx 18 km from what i can remember. it is rated as the best one day trek in New Zealand. and you probably need about average fitness. heres a link for more info

http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/

hope it helps! if a bunch of lazy 16 yr olds can do it, you could definitely do the walk!

tothebatmobilerobin

Come to Wanganui and base yourself here. For the first post the track is called - Tongariro (tongerreiro ) and she is absolutely correct - I did the hike myself when I was younger - it is fabulous. The Wanganui river offers some stunning scenery and the local natives offer Jetboat tours as well. DOC has huts all the way along the track but it can be daunting for the little inexperienced. The kayaking is stupendous - I did my grade 5 on it a few years back and man - was it a buzz (only 3 rivers in NZ where grade 5 cat. could be completed at that time.). Raetihi is great as well - fantastic caves and walks - the local camping ground use to run a tour but Im not sure if it still does. Heaps on offer in the Wanganui region - Skiing, nature hikes, camping, .... give it ago. The other that I would recommend is the Moss Creek/ Pinnacles Walk up in Coromandel - 52KM in and 58 Kms out - damned great. DO NOT GO ALONE - Moss Creek has had its share of stranded hikers and abseiling the Pinnacles alone is to be avoided at all costs. Dont forget water purifier pills. Again - Huts available at Moss Creek. Stick to the track.

travel_stories

The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a 17km day walk and fantastic. Look here to see an article about it and more info on New Zealand.Do read the notes about tramping care, notifying people both when you are going - tell them where you are going, how long you expect to be and when you plan to be back. Also notify the ranger if doing more than a day both before and after.

Be well prepared for our bush which is beautiful, but thick and different to many places.

http://www.holidays-in-newzealand.com

Also for longer walks there is the Milford Track, Routeburn track, Heaphy Track all in the South Island.These are 3-5 day tramps.

There are some good books about New Zealand walks at http:www.fishpond.co.nz

Hope you have a good time.

Anna D

- The Kepler is wonderful - although better if you get nice weather for the alpine day, I had awful weather and it was horrible! I did that one in four days/three nights - although as someone above said you can get off it a little earlier and do three days/two nights. The way we did it we had a day of steady climbing, an alpine day which was a steady climb then a big drop, a lovely day following a river down to a lake (very slight downhill) and then a relatively flat, relatively short day back to the start. It's also very easy in terms of access and transport as it is circular- about 65km in length. It's one of the Great Walks so you have to book huts.
- The Heaphy is also fantastic, but transport is a drag as the two ends of the track are something like 300km apart by road as there is no road which even vaguely follows the track! There are huts dotted all along the track, so you could take ages over it, but I did it in four days/three nights - it's about 75km. If you go north-south, as we did, you have a steady climb for your first day, an undulating second day, a drop then fairly flat third day, and a fourth day out along the beaches which are beautiful. Again, a Great Walk where you have to book ahead.
- The track I've walked most recently is the Greenstone-Caples, near Glenorchy; it ties in with several other tracks, including the Routeburn, which gives you a lot of options. If you do just the Greenstone-Caples it's about 55km, four days/three nights with one pretty easy day (our last day we left the hut at 8am and were at the end by 11:30am), two relatively easy days and one day which includes a big climb up to a saddle (3 hours of scrambling) and then a drop down into the next valley - 2 hours of scrambling and then an hour on the flat down to the hut! That 6-hour day was the longest day though. We went up the Caples valley and down the Greenstone which meant the big day was the second day while we were a bit fresher. If you go the other way, you have a big third day. It's a lesser used track, it wasn't crowded when we were on it which was February. It's not a track you can book for, the huts are first in, first served. It's a circular track so transport is easy.

Go to www.doc.govt.nz and have a good browse around the site for more information.

mareeclara

There are some walks that you can just do ( ie you need to plan etc but not book) and then there are the "great walks" where you do need to book.
These walks include the Milford Track, Able Tasman, Queen Charlotte, Heaphy Track....these vary in difficulty and length
The Department of Conservation runs and maintains most tracks in New Zealand and the website below would give you the best info about pretty much the most important or best scenic tracks around here.
Have fun I have heard they are stunning.....

Zebra

There are books available written on this subject, seeing as we have so much bush & forests & walking tracks here.

try one of our bookstores like:
whitcoulls.co.nz

What do you mean by booking? You don't need to book unless you are going on a tour with someone. Ask the tourist office about tours.

newzealand.com

Be careful, tourists get lost every week in our forests & many of them die. They get lost & are found dead or never found. They fall off cliffs & down ravines, one Polish guy died last week as he got stuck & there was a flash flood & he must have drowned (he was not even bushwalking far from the city either, nowhere remote or anything). They also die of hypothermia through being stuck in bush overnight & unprepared. You have to know what you are doing.

You must let someone know if you are bushwalking (we call it tramping), like the local tourist office or your accomodation & let them know where you are going, what route you are taking & when you will be back. You must make sure you have studied up on what you need to take like a first aid kit, wet weather gear, a torch & spare batteries in a dry compartment, compass, wool jersey, etc. Our weather can be very unpredictable so even in summer you need to be equiped for anything. Make sure you buy an emergency blanket (you can get them here for just a few dollars at The Warehouse store (ask where their camping equipment section is). It is a blanket as small as a packet of cigarettes but it could save your life if you get stuck in the bush in terms of it keeping you warm & dry.

There are tramping clubs in NZ that do day tramps, usually on Sundays, for a small fee like $15. Go to google.co.nz & google tramping clubs if that's something you think you might like to do. In Auckland there is the Auckland Tramping Club & the North Shore Tramping Club. Their websites are useful to look at if only to find out what sort of things they put in their backpack for their safety for even just a day trip.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: