Routeburn Track

Across the Southern Alps from the Routeburn Shelter near Glenorchy over Harris Saddle to The Divide on the Milford road: two to four days with the Department of Conservation's Routeburn Flats, Routeburn Falls and Lake Mackenzie huts.

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31kmMapped distance
1,245mMapped ascent
4Walking stages

Best season: 1 November to 30 April (the Great Walks season). The Department of Conservation's 2026/27 Great Walks season runs from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027: the huts have rangers and gas, and huts and campsites must be booked. From May to October Harris Saddle is an alpine crossing, avalanche paths reach the track between Lake Mackenzie and Lake Howden, and side-stream bridges are taken out for the winter. DOC's pages differ on whether huts must be booked then. Before you go

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Plan your days

Your dates

Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…

Three huts, two of them with campsites. Most walkers take three days with nights at Routeburn Falls and Lake Mackenzie; fit walkers do it in two. Or pick your own nights below.

Hut seasons as published. 2026/27: the season at all 3 huts runs 1 November to 30 April; outside it they stay open with less.

3-day plan

Loading topographic map…
600m800m1,000m1,200m05 km10 km15 km20 km25 km30 km1,306m472m
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%) Steep (15–25%)
Each day in its own colour, numbered where it starts; the rest of the Routeburn Track in grey. Select a day for its elevation and 3D flyover.

Make your own plan

Changing the pace or where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.

Choose your nights (2 nights)

Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.

Day by day

  1. Day 1

    Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut

    Stage 1, Stage 2

    Distance
    9.3 km
    Climb
    +592 / −80 m
    Walking
    3 h 15Department of Conservation time 2 h 30–4 h; our estimate 2 h 46

    Stage 1: Up the Route Burn through the beech forest to the flats and Routeburn Flats Hut, a short way off the track.

    Stage 2: A short climb to Routeburn Falls Hut at the bushline: the usual first night.

    Overnight

    Routeburn Falls Hut

    Staffed mountain hut · Department of Conservation

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026/27 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027 The 2026/27 Great Walks season, with a ranger and gas cooking: bookings required. Outside the season: From May to October there is no ranger or gas, and the track is an alpine route. DOC's pages differ on booking then: the winter advice says bookings are still required at a reduced cost, the booking section says first come, first served, at $35 (May and June) or $30 (July to October) adult. Check with DOC when you plan. doc.govt.nz, read 27 September 2026
    Places
    48 places in total · Self-catering In the Great Walks season: 48 bunks, a ranger, heating and gas cooking (no utensils), toilets and cold water. Boil the tap water.
    Booking
    Book online Book in the Great Walks season. Great Walks season: adult NZ$132 (international), NZ$88 (NZ resident), child $66 / $44.
    Contact
    Official site

    OpenStreetMap

    At the bushline beside the falls: the usual first night, before Harris Saddle.

    Day 1 GPX Open in Planner

  2. Day 2

    Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut

    Stage 3

    Distance
    11.2 km
    Climb
    +450 / −552 m
    Walking
    5 h 19Department of Conservation times, plus our estimate off the route

    Includes 0.3 km off the route by the hut track to Lake Mackenzie Hut.

    Not confirmed open on set days: km 0–10.9 of stage 3. From May to October the crossing of Harris Saddle is an alpine route with avalanche risk, and the side-stream bridges between the saddle and Lake Mackenzie are taken out for the winter: DOC says to walk it then only with alpine skills and gear.

    Stage 3: Over Harris Saddle (1,255 m) and along the Hollyford Face to Lake Mackenzie Hut: exposed alpine ground, turn back in bad weather.

    Overnight

    Lake Mackenzie Hut

    Staffed mountain hut · Department of Conservation

    Pick a date to check the season.

    Season
    2026/27 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027 The 2026/27 Great Walks season, with a ranger and gas cooking: bookings required. Outside the season: From May to October there is no ranger or gas, and the track is an alpine route. DOC's pages differ on booking then: the winter advice says bookings are still required at a reduced cost, the booking section says first come, first served, at $35 (May and June) or $30 (July to October) adult. Check with DOC when you plan. doc.govt.nz, read 27 September 2026
    Places
    50 places in total · Self-catering In the Great Walks season: 50 bunks, a ranger, heating and gas cooking (no utensils), toilets and cold water. Boil the tap water.
    Booking
    Book online Book in the Great Walks season. Great Walks season: adult NZ$132 (international), NZ$88 (NZ resident), child $66 / $44. A campsite (9 sites) nearby.
    Contact
    Official site

    OpenStreetMap

    By the lake, after Harris Saddle (1,255 m).

    Day 2 GPX Open in Planner

  3. Day 3

    Lake Mackenzie Hut to The Divide

    Stage 4

    Distance
    11.6 km
    Climb
    +335 / −684 m
    Walking
    4 h 51Department of Conservation times, plus our estimate off the route

    Includes 0.3 km from Lake Mackenzie Hut back to the route by the hut track.

    Not confirmed open on set days: km 0–11.3 of stage 4. From May to October the track between Lake Mackenzie and Lake Howden crosses avalanche paths DOC has mapped, some of which can bring debris to the valley floor and across the track: DOC says to walk it then only with alpine skills and avalanche gear.

    Stage 4: By Earland Falls (a flagged reroute of about 20 minutes, DOC alert) and Lake Howden to The Divide. The Key Summit side track, near the end, stayed open during construction work DOC expected to finish by 30 November 2026; a slip lay 800 m from The Divide (DOC alerts, September 2026).

    Day 3 GPX Open in Planner

Longest day: day 2, 5 h 19.

How these plans are made

Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are the Department of Conservation's published times where it gives one, with our estimate beside it; a day that walks part of a stage gets a share of the stage's time by distance and climb. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.

Huts and stays, stage by stage

Where each stage ends, the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 27 September 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.

StageNight at2026/272027/28Booking
1. Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Flats HutRouteburn Flats Hut 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027not publishedBook online
2. Routeburn Flats Hut to Routeburn Falls HutRouteburn Falls Hut 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027not publishedBook online
3. Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie HutLake Mackenzie Hut 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027not publishedBook online
4. Lake Mackenzie Hut to The DivideThe Divide · no hut at this point

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for low point (467 m) and high point (1,316 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (467 m) and the highest point (1,316 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.

Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
WeatherMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixed
Stages rated good on typical weather0/41/40/40/40/40/40/40/40/40/40/40/4
High point, day / night17°/6°17°/6°14°/4°11°/2°7°/0°3°/-3°3°/-3°5°/-3°7°/-1°9°/0°12°/2°15°/5°
Low point, day / night21°/10°21°/10°19°/8°16°/6°12°/4°8°/1°8°/0°10°/1°12°/3°14°/5°17°/6°20°/9°
Rain, mm439232302332308225250188290346327362
Snow at high point––––PossiblePossiblePossiblePossiblePossiblePossible––
Daylight15 h 1213 h 5512 h 2910 h 539 h 348 h 499 h 0610 h 1311 h 4313 h 1514 h 4315 h 32

Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.

Before you go

Prepare for the Routeburn Track

Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.

Book the huts and campsites

In the Great Walks season every hut and campsite night is booked on DOC's booking system. The two ends are 325 km apart by road: book transport or a car relocation with the huts.

Prices

Each hut night in the Great Walks season costs an international adult NZ$132 and a New Zealand resident NZ$88 (children $66 / $44); a campsite night $42 / $28. Outside the season huts are $35 (May and June) or $30 (July to October) an adult; DOC's pages differ on whether they must be booked then.

DOC: Great Walks pricing

No signal: carry a beacon

There is no phone coverage on the track. Carry a distress beacon. For search and rescue call 111.

DOC: distress beacons

Getting there

Connect your journey

Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.

Directions to this start Travel from this finish

Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.

Two ends, 325 km apart

The Routeburn Shelter is 25 km from Glenorchy (near Queenstown); The Divide is on the Milford road, 85 km from Te Anau. DOC lists transport operators for both ends; book before you go.

DOC: Routeburn Track

Take your trip with you

Offline maps

Prepare every day while you have a connection: there is no phone coverage on the track.

Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.

  1. Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
  2. Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
  3. Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.

Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.

Route & sources

About this map

The Department of Conservation gives 33 km one way, walkable in either direction; this guide walks it from the Routeburn Shelter to The Divide. The line here is the track's relation on OpenStreetMap (planet of 21 September 2026), 31.5 km, cut at DOC's huts. Lake Howden Hut was destroyed in February 2020. The times are DOC's.

Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 27 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.

Department of Conservation: Routeburn Track

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation

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