The Routeburn Track

The Routeburn Track is a world-renowned tramping (hiking) track and can be accessed from the Queenstown side of the Southern Alps at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu or the Te Anau side at the Divide north of Te Anau.  The NZ Department of Conservation maintains four huts along the track: Routeburn Flats Hut, Routeburn Falls Hut, Mackenzie Hut, and Howden Hut plus there is an emergency shelter at Harris Saddle.  The track overlaps two National Parks; the Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park's with the border being Harris Saddle.

This area gets much less rain that the Milford Sound and the forests are very different, especially on the eastern side of the saddle, where there are a lot of large pines and other trees, and relatively few ferns.  The track spends a long time on the high ridges around Harris Saddle, with great long distance views in many directions.

Much of the Routeburn Track is also accessible to day hikers, especially Key Summit on the Te Anau side.

You can find out more about the Routeburn track by visiting the DOC website.