Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut

Routeburn Track · Stage 3

11kmStage distance
450mMapped ascent
3Stage number

Not confirmed open on set dates: 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. Source, read 27 September 2026

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

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

Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut

Loading topographic map…
900m1,000m1,100m1,200m1,300m02 km4 km6 km8 km10 km1,306m894m
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%) Steep (15–25%)
Green: Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.

Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut

3 / 4
GPX

Where this stage starts and ends

Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 27 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with the hut before you rely on a date or a bed.

Stage start

Routeburn Falls Hut

Staffed mountain hut · Department of Conservation

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

Stage end · overnight

Lake Mackenzie Hut

Staffed mountain hut · Department of Conservation

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

What the operators say about this leg

  • Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut: 4 hr 30 min to 6 hr. Our estimate for this stage is 3 h 20. The operator's time is much longer than our estimate from distance and climb: the ground is slower than it looks. Plan on the operator's time. doc.govt.nz, read 27 September 2026

Make it your trip

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.

Routeburn Shelter to The Divide

Three days, the usual nights at Routeburn Falls and Lake Mackenzie huts.

  1. 6.9 km
  2. 2.4 km
  3. 10.9 km
  4. 11.3 km

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for low point (890 m) and high point (1,316 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (890 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
WeatherMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedMixedPoorMixedMixedMixedMixedMixed
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 / night19°/8°19°/7°17°/6°13°/4°9°/2°6°/-1°5°/-2°7°/-1°10°/0°12°/2°15°/4°17°/7°
Rain, mm439232302332308209288188290346355362
Snow at high point––––PossiblePossiblePossiblePossiblePossiblePossible––
Daylight15 h 1313 h 5512 h 2910 h 539 h 348 h 499 h 0510 h 1311 h 4313 h 1514 h 4415 h 33

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.

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

Travel around Routeburn Falls Hut to Lake Mackenzie Hut.

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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