The Routeburn Track - My Favourite Hike of all Time
No question about it, the Routeburn Track is my favourite hike in New Zealand, period. I will always recommend this hike be at the top of your list if you are travelling throughout New Zealand and if you’re not a hiker well then start training because you’re not going to want to miss this one!
The Routeburn Track is a multi-day Great Walk, so it can be quite difficult to book huts in advance BUT the great news is that you can hike it in one-day portions from either end of the trail. When we first travelled throughout NZ, we hiked one day on the Routeburn Track from the Te Anau side called The Divide, but this time we attacked it from the opposite side, which begins in Glenorchy called the Routeburn Shelter, just a 45-minute drive from Queenstown.
Although I loved my first time on the Routeburn Track, I did not consider it my favourite hike in NZ, but this time around I was completely blown away with stunning scenery of snow-capped mountains, sapphire coloured alpine lakes, beautiful lush green hill sides, valleys and meadows that you just could not have imagine existed outside of your imagination.
The hike begins with a swing bridge, and like I always say the best trails always start with a swing bridge!
And as most hikes go in New Zealand, you continue your way through the forest floor surrounded by a carpet of beautiful green ferns. You also walk alongside the crystal-clear turquoise waters of the Route Burn river.
After hiking through the forest for a couple of hours, we decided to take a quick break and grab a slice of pizza. Now I know pizza isn’t exactly the best hiking food, but we had leftovers from the night before and it’s fun to make all the other hikers jealous.
We stopped in a beautiful meadow overlooking some mountains in the distance and took a few minutes here before continuing on.
Moving up the mountain we were welcomed with amazing views of the surrounding snow-capped mountains in the distance and a river that snaked around the valley floor.
But it wasn’t until we reached the first hut that our eyes really widened and jaws literally dropped to the floor. Just a few minutes’ walk from the Routeburn Falls hut is an impressive cascading waterfall, called the Routeburn Falls Cascades that seems to go on forever.
And then the most beautiful open valley surrounded by rugged mountain peaks, lush meadows and a river streaming right through the center. It was truly the most beautiful spectacle of nature I had ever seen!
Running low on time, we glumly decided to turn back so we could reach our dinner reservations with friends back in Queenstown. We managed to walk twenty minutes back towards the hut before we both looked at each other and said “f*ck-it we need to find the alpine lake we’ve come so far!”
We hustled our way back through the valley and up the cliffs in search for what was just beyond the valley. The pace was unusual for us, as normally we walk quite slow and steady so we don’t burn ourselves out. But we had to find the alpine blue lake and race back down to meet our friends for dinner.
Its suffice to say that we were so happy with our decision not to turn back and to keep going because when our eyes finally landed on the alpine blue lake the feeling was indescribable. Mother nature has tucked this beauty up so high in the mountains that you need to put in some effort it if you want to gaze upon its beauty.
High on adrenaline and feeling like a junkie, we hiked just a little further around the next bend to again see what beauty we would find just around the corner.
Just past the Blue Lake, we fell upon Harris Saddle, the highest point on the track at 1,255m, with an emergency shelter in case the weather is worse for wear.
From here the only option was to descend into the exposed Hollyford Face to Lake Mackenzie Hut or to return the same way we came. Knowing our impending dinner date, we stopped for a moment to take in the expansive views of the surrounding Darren snow-capped mountains and then turned around and headed back.
With darkness soon upon us, we scurried back down the mountain, rushed to the car and drove back into Queenstown just thirty minutes late for dinner, to tell our friends our story of the most amazing hike in New Zealand!