The Routeburn — Three Days Through the Rees & Dart
Three days across Harris Saddle plus the side-trips and combos that turn the Routeburn into a real week-long alpine trip.
The Routeburn is the most popular alpine Great Walk in the country, and for good reason — three days, two nights, and you walk under Conical Hill and across the Harris Saddle with views that beat anything you have to fly to see. We have walked it in February sun and October sleet. Both worth it. Here is the version we recommend, plus the connections that turn it into a longer trip if you want.
The standard route — Glenorchy to The Divide
The track runs 32 km between two trailheads:
- Routeburn Shelter (Glenorchy end) — 70 km from Queenstown via the Glenorchy Road.
- The Divide (Te Anau end) — on the Milford Road, 85 km from Te Anau.
Most people walk it east-to-west (Glenorchy to Divide), which puts the steep climb to Harris Saddle on day two with fresh legs and the dramatic drop into the Hollyford on day three.
Three-day itinerary, two huts:
- Routeburn Shelter → Routeburn Falls Hut. 8.8 km, 4-5 hr, 600 m climb. Beech forest, the Routeburn river, a steady but never brutal climb. Falls Hut sits on a bluff with the falls cascading past.
- Falls Hut → Lake Mackenzie Hut. 11 km, 4-6 hr. Up to Harris Saddle (1255 m), then the high traverse along Hollyford Face. This is the day. Conical Hill side trip adds 1.5 hr return — do it if the weather holds.
- Mackenzie Hut → The Divide. 12 km, 4-5 hr. Past Earland Falls, through Lake Howden, then the steep zigzag down to the Milford Road.
Bookings open in May for the October-April Great Walks season. Outside the season, both huts drop to standard backcountry tickets and the road conditions tighten — avalanche risk on Harris Saddle is real.
The transport problem (and the answer)
Both ends are road-served, but they are 350 km apart by road. You cannot leave a car at one end and pick it up at the other unless you arrange a relocation.
Three options:
- InfoTrack and Tracknet run shuttle services connecting Queenstown, Glenorchy, Te Anau, and The Divide. Book both legs ahead of season.
- Combo with the Greenstone Track (see below) and walk back to Glenorchy.
- Combo with the Milford Track as the "Grand Traverse" — eight days, but legendary.
Connection 1 — Routeburn + Greenstone (5 days, loop)
If you want to avoid the shuttle problem entirely and you are happy with one extra day, walk the Routeburn east-to-west, then turn south at Lake Howden and walk back to Glenorchy via the Greenstone Track.
Itinerary:
- Routeburn Shelter → Routeburn Falls Hut.
- Falls → Mackenzie Hut.
- Mackenzie → McKellar Hut (Greenstone, 9 km, 3-4 hr).
- McKellar → Greenstone Hut (15 km, 5-6 hr).
- Greenstone → Greenstone Carpark (12 km, 4-5 hr).
The Greenstone is unbooked backcountry — buy hut tickets, no reservations needed. Loop closes at Greenstone Carpark, which is connected to the Routeburn Shelter by a 25-minute shuttle (or one-hour bike ride).
Connection 2 — Rees-Dart sidetrip from Glenorchy
If you have a week and you want a more serious trip, drive to Glenorchy, walk the Rees-Dart Track as a four-day loop first, rest a day in Glenorchy, then walk the Routeburn. We covered the Rees-Dart in detail in our Rees-Dart combo post — short version: it is a real alpine trip, less crowded, and one of the great Mt Aspiring National Park traverses.
Key tip: Harris Saddle is exposed alpine terrain. Even in summer, snow squalls and 80 km/h winds can roll over it inside an hour. Carry full waterproofs, warm hat, gloves, and a buff every day of the Routeburn — even when the carpark forecast says clear. The view from Conical Hill is worth the discomfort, but only if you make it back to Mackenzie Hut alive.
What makes the Routeburn special
It is not the longest Great Walk, the steepest, or the remotest. What it has is the best ratio of alpine scenery to walking effort in New Zealand. Six hours from Queenstown you are eating lunch on Harris Saddle looking down into Lake Harris, with the Darran Mountains stacked westward like something out of Tolkien.
Walk it slowly. Take the Conical Hill side trip. Sit at Routeburn Falls in the evening. The track does the rest.
Final logistics
- Hut bookings: bookings.doc.govt.nz. Released annually in May.
- Weather: metservice.com/rural/queenstown-lakes-district.
- Avalanche advisory (winter/shoulder): avalanche.net.nz.
- Hut etiquette: Quiet by 9 PM, headtorches dim, pack everything out — including TP. Always.
The Routeburn is a Great Walk for a reason. Take three days, take four if you can. The Rees-Dart will still be there next year.