Hump Ridge Track
New Zealand's eleventh Great Walk, a 61.5 km three-day loop from Rarakau over the sub-alpine Hump Ridge and back along the coast of Te Waewae Bay.
At a glance
- Loop from and back to
- Rarakau car park, near Tuatapere
- Length
- 62 km
- On foot
- 3 days
- Countries
New Zealand
About the trail
The Hump Ridge Track lies at the southern edge of Fiordland, near Tuatapere, and became New Zealand's eleventh Great Walk on 25 October 2024. The loop climbs from the coast to sub-alpine tops with tors and tarns and wide views across Western Southland, then returns along the rugged shore of Te Waewae Bay.
The coastal half follows an old logging tramline past the remains of the Port Craig sawmill settlement, with its baker's oven and wharf piles, and crosses historic timber viaducts, among them the Edwin Burn, Percy Burn and Sand Hill viaducts.
The Department of Conservation describes three days of 20.2 to 20.7 km, about 61.5 km in all, needing moderate to high fitness and seven to nine hours of walking on most days. The track and its lodges at Ōkaka and Port Craig are run by the Tuatapere Hump Track Charitable Trust in partnership with DOC, and the weather can turn bad at any time of year.