| Page Views: 930 Last Visit to Arthur's Pass National Park: January, 2007 | Tramping in the Mountains by ShelleyKeating - last update: Jan 25, 2009 |
Arthur's Pass is a great place for hikers- it contains many trails of various grades and boasts Avalanche Peak- Lonley Planet's 'best day walk in the South Island'. As far as the township goes there is not much there- i recommend taking everything you need to hike/camp with and then you can stock up on some food items/batteries at the Arthur's Pass tea room and store. |
|  | Avalanche Peak tbc |
| Deception Valley, Arthurs Pass |
| | Alpine Hiking I chose to do the Goats Pass 2-day hike, but admittedly had a lot of trouble finding the 'track' which seems to disappear suddenly on one side of the river and turn up on the other side, with only a few cairns to indicate that crossing the river is necessary. We did the track 'backwards'- as it is more common to start at Greyner's shelter than the Morrison footbridge, but for accessibility reasons we were droped off at the footbridge (19km West of the township) to finish at Greyner's shelter and walk the 5km back to the township. Apparently it is a lot easier to do the track the other way.
So we didn't make the huts (though later research indicated we were less than 30mins away when we decided to exit the dense forest and set up a plastic sheet to sleep under near the river). The hut is supposed to be really nice too. Ho hum. The next day it was raining and so we decided to hike out the way we came (finding the 'trail'- marked by orange triangle discs, which cut 2hrs off the treck home) and were given a lift back to Arthurs Pass by a lovely German couple, as the bus had passed 30mins earlier.
The walk entailed A LOT of bouldering along the Deception River- that is scrambling up and down the rocky banks of the river which varies in difficulty with the change in water levels. We were amazed how much the river had come up after the 2nd day's rain. Fording the Deception River can take anywhere between 5 and 15 hours depending on the river's mood. We crossed the river about 15 times in the two days so make sure you are confident with this- we occasionally were waist deep and treading very carefully on the slippery rocks especially in places where the current is strong.
The walk follow the Deception Valley with impressive mountains towering over head with the highlight being Goats Peak- apparently you get lovely views from the hut.
For technical details (distances etc), see 'Things to do'.
Apart from the store and the Wobbly Kea, there is a Visitor Centre with maps and local information (and lots of Kea's lurking in the carpark- see 'warnings or dangers'). There is a very small post office and an internet place and the rest is accommodation.
The surroundings are spectacular- the road runs through the valley and moutains tower either side. There is a popular train trip from Christchurch to Greymouth (East coast to West Coast) which stopps at Arthurs Pass. |
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| Pros: | "Beautiful mountains and good hiking trails" | | Cons: | "The mountains create bad weather" |
ShelleyKeating's Arthur's Pass National Park Travel Tips
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 Comments for ShelleyKeating about Arthur's Pass National Park | | | | |
austarman Mon Feb 5, 2007 11:32 UTC
That Arthurs Pass trek seems like hard work although beautiful, but the Latte couldn't have been better than Picasso's surely? |
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