Doolans Creek tarns via Wye Creek tarns, Hector Mountains, Otago NZ

At the rugged northern end of the Hector Mountains, and behind the iconic Remarkables Range near Queenstown, are about fifteen scenic tarns. There are five in the Wye Creek Basin, and ten in the rather more remote area above Doolans Creek East Branch. A ridge of rugged peaks separates the two clusters. Most of these tarns are enormous, deep, and all of them scenic. The Wye Creek tarns are set amongst tussock grassland with Single Cone towering overhead. And the Doolans Creek tarns are dotted around rocky terrain with patches of golden tussock. For anybody that likes tarns I can’t imagine a better two day route.

The Wye Creek tarns are easily accessed on a day trip from the Remarkables ski field car park, and I can recommend climbing towards point 2046m south-east of the tarns for spectacular views over the area. You can bag the peak if you like but the views start early, so you don’t have to. To visit the Doolans Creek tarns is a more substantial route that gets harder as you progress.

There are options to climb peaks in the area, including Mt Tūwhakarōria (2307m),  the highest mountain in Central Otago. We would have needed an extra day and didn’t have a long enough weather window. Route notes at the end.

Doolans Creek tarns via Wye Creek tarns: The Scenery

Day 1

Day 2

Short video taken from a rocky outcrop next to our campsite:

Route Notes

Wye Creek Tarns

Start at the Remarkables ski field car park ($15 access fee for vehicles, payable at the bottom of the mountain). Follow the track to Lake Alta, then climb south to the saddle. Drop down into the Wye Creek basin and head off towards point 2046m. There is an impact track in parts up this ridge, but also sections of boulders. Great views already of the Wye Creek tarns, and this could be a turnaround point for a day-walk.

Doolans Creek Tarns

If you are going further then you can walk below 2046m, over 2020m, and on to a shallow tarn. From there sidle around the hillside to the saddle between 1967m and 2115m. From here you can choose your own route amongst the Doolans Creek tarns. (Taking the ridge seems to involve too much scrambling, and possibly more than scrambling, and I don’t know of any documented routes going that way).

We set off past three sizeable tarns over undulating terrain. From there we consulted the map and decided to take the flattest onward route, noting there was a short but very steep ascent and descent involved. I guess I was feeling lazy and optimistic, but the short descent was scary, especially with full packs on. Sidling around to the tarn east of 2130m was somewhat challenging as it was – it’s quite steep on sometimes loose rock. The tarn itself is in an unusual setting, surrounded by boulders. There’s a steep ascent at the far end of the tarns – keeping to the right is best.

Tricky Descent

At the top you might see a couple of very small cairns (one was just two rocks – that’s a cairn right?). These gave us some confidence that people had chosen this route in the past. The first part of the descent is very steep on rock slabs. It was hard to climb down a couple of sections with full packs on, and the exposure is real. Soon it’s back to broken rock and some boulders.

Alternative Route through the Doolans Creek tarns

After camping next to a very picturesque tarn we decided to leave by an alternative route that involved roughly 300m change in elevation. We climbed through boulders past another nice tarn to nearby 2127m, and then descended from there through coarse scree/ loose rocks and boulders. The terrain around the saddle further east (closer to 2130m) did not look very good. We could have visited another tarn here but decided to stay high and descend directly to one of the big tarns we visited the previous day. If you are doing this bit in reverse note that 2127m is not very prominent when viewed from the north. This route will still require careful route finding, but it’s possible to minimise exposure.

Other Options

This route fit comfortably into two days in February. I recommend having a third day if you want to explore more. This could include climbing to get views of Lake Hope (- I can recommend 2090m, which I visited on a day-walk two weeks later). There are a few ways of getting up Mt Tūwhakarōria, but if approaching from the north, climbing up scree onto the east ridge looked to be the easiest. You could also consider returning via Wye Creek, but I like tarns so I was happy to go back through them again.

See this trip report by Southern Alps Photography (always good for epic NZ trips) for a similar trip but returning up Wye Creek and summitting Mt Tūwhakarōria.

Author: Edward Hathway

I'm a clinical psychologist and keen hiker. View all posts by Edward Hathway