Milford Track - NZ

Walk: The Milford Track.

Distance/Type: 4 Days 3 Nights Hike 8.8km / 11.3km / 12km / One Way

Terrain/Rating: Undulating terrain on varying surfaces. Medium.

Start / Finish Time: 9am(10:45)-12:00pm/8:00am-1:05pm/7:00am-11:30pm
1:15hrs /        5:00 hrs / 4:30hrs

Start / Finish Location:  TeAnau/TeAnauDowns/Glade Wharf to Sandfly Point/Milford Sound

Trip Summary:
The best known iconic great walk of New Zealand.
A well spaced out hike with spectacular scenery over all 3 days and very good accomodation locations starting with a very easy walk on the first day. 

Trip Details:
The first day involves taking a 8:30am bus pickup from the TeAnau DOC via Tracknet
You take a 30 minute bus ride along the picturesque Lake TeAnau to rendevous with your ferry at Te Anau Downs. 

Cruising

The Ferry leaves at about 9:30am and cruises for about 1 hour where it then drops you off at Glades Wharf and the start of the Milford Track. Markers appear along the track at every mile.

Disembarking at Glades Wharf.

The first day is a lovely easy 1-1.30 hr flat walk following along the Clinton River.
After a 10 minute walk along the tree-lined track you reach the luxurious Glades House. This is length of the walk for the first day for guided groups. For the rest of us its just another hour or so to our destination, Clinton Hut.

From the banks of the river at Glade House you can view the first of many river crossings along this track.

Clinton River.

After crossing the bridge we follow the left bank of the Clinton River, after about 30 minutes you'll pass the 2mile marker and reach Dore Pass.



A few minutes further on the Wetlands walk sidetrip appears on your left.  This is a 10 minute loop track through the forest with information about the flora and fauna in the area.

Wetlands Walk.

Another 15 minutes along the track and before you know it the side track to the well appointed Clinton Hut appears. There are 2 separate sleeping quarters and a separate kitchen with plenty of eating and resting areas inside and out.

Clinton Hut.

With such a short walk the rest of the day can be spent lazing by the banks of the Clinton River if you are lucky enough with the weather. 

Clinton Hut beach.

As with a lot of the walks in NZ a lovely area to relax, but be prepared for the sandflies.

South Island Robin.

The next day we continue our walk along the Clinton River for 30 minutes before it opens out into the Clinton West Valley.

Clinton River.

This is the area most likely to flood in inclimate weather.  There are fluro orange poles here incase the water level is so high that you can't see where to put your feet.

We were so lucky with the weather on this trip to have spectacular views of the valley.

Clinton West Valley.

Along the valley there is a side trip to Hidden Lake off to the left.. If you are lucky enough that the wind is still you may get perfect reflections off its surface. The side trip takes about 15 minutes.

Hidden Lake.

The path continues along the valley firstly back into Beech Forest for a few kms and then it starts to open up into grasslands, where another side trip appears, this time to Prarie Lake.

Prarie Lake.

After about 3 1/2 to 4 hours the track goes back into Beech Forest and then starts a rocky climb to the BusStop Shelter.

BusStop Shelter.

Just past the BusStop we cross over Marlenes Creek and then scramble along a rocky track for a few kms.  This shelter would be used if Marlenes creek was flooded.

Marlenes Creek bridge.

Another 1 1/2 to 2 hours you slowly work your way uphill before reaching Mintaro Hut.  Once again another very well appointed hut.

Mintaro Hut.

As with most of the walk you'll get to the next hut early afternoon if you leave at 7 or 8am.  This will give you plenty of time to rest or checkout the surrounding area. At Mintaro Hut there is a lake just a little further along the track.

Lake Mintaro.

If the weather is fine and you have spare time (you should allow at least 3 hours return) you should head up to MacKinnons Pass for the views as you can never guarantee the weather on these trips. Unfortunately I didn't and walked through fog over the pass the next morning, as you'll see.

Track just past Mintaro Hut.

We were awakened at about 9:30pm when a huge rumble in the distance was heard, sounding like an avalanche.
The warden on duty had a look around and mentioned it may have been a rockfall but we wouldn't know until daylight.

In the morning the warden said there had been a rockfall on the other side of the valley a few kms away. We didn't know at the time but this may have coincided with the earthquakes in Christchurch.

The third days walk is the hardest and begins with a climb up to Mackinnon Pass within a hour of walking. As with the climate of this region a few hours can be the difference between fog covered mountains or brilliant sunshine.

As is my way I was up early and got the fog option upon reaching the hut on the Pass.
Some great views over the ridge and the track follows some lovely cascading waterfalls as it works its way down into the valley.

To Be Continued.


A great video of the track can be found here.