Queenstown Walks

Queenstown’s magnificent natural scenery and hilly topography make for unbeatable walking trails. A handful of beautiful hikes snake directly from the town centre, and you’ve got the Fiordland and Mount Aspiring national parks in driving distance for a taste of the rugged beauty that New Zealand is world-famous for. Whether you’re keen to do a day hike or a multi-day excursion, Queenstown has the walking tracks for you.

Photo by: Cassie Matias on Unsplash

Beginning with tracks that begin around the Lake, you can’t overlook the Queenstown Hill Time Walk. This 2-hour return walk is a favourite with tourists for the prime photo-taking opportunities that it offers both on the sculpture-dotted track itself and on the summit. A steep climb, but easy to fit into a morning or afternoon.

Jacks Point Queenstown is a mid-level walk with great views of the lake and takes about 4 hours around. Ben Lomond Walkway is slightly more intensive – 5 or 8 hours’ worth of steady uphill walking – but it’s well worth conquering for the view of the alps at the top. You might even encounter snow in the colder months!

If you want to fill up just a morning or afternoon, but get an intense hike in nonetheless, try the Sawpit Gully walk. It starts at a turnoff from the Arrow River Trail in Arrowtown, and from there you’re basically in for a climb until you reach a photo-perfect view of the Remarkables.

Photo by: Tomas Sobek on Flickr

The Mount Crichton loop track is a great one to take the kids on, as the track’s well-defined and easy, and the loop takes 2-4 hours at the most. You’ll see historical traces of gold mining on the way, as well as much New Zealand native bush. The track starts 12 km from Queenstown. And for another excellent day walk slightly out of town, consider driving out to the Sunshine Bay track out by Glenorchy so that you can look out over Lake Wakatipu as you push through to reach Sunshine’s Bay.

For the more experienced trampers out there, make a beeline for Queenstown’s Great Walk, the Routeburn Track. A 32km trek that takes an average of 2-4 days to complete depending on your fitness level, this track crosses both Mt Aspiring and Fiordland national parks, and is a beautiful sojourn through middle earth – you’ll really feel as if you’ve ventured into another realm.

For a convenient and affordable way to get out to Queenstown’s surrounding walking tracks, hire a rental car from either Omega’s Queenstown Airport Depot or central Town Depot.