Hawkdun Range ascent (point 1857m), Maniototo, Central Otago NZ
An excellent walk through tussock grass to the barren summit plateau of the Hawkdun Range (point 1857m), in the remote Maniototo region of Central Otago.
An excellent walk to the top of the Hawkdun Range (1857m) in the remote Maniototo region of Central Otago, famous for its isolated vistas of golden tussock grass and mountains. The walk starts in the Manuherikia Valley, and after a flat start rises steeply up to the long and barren summit plateau of the Hawkdun Range: about 1100m of ascent and descent. Not as dramatic as the Southern Alps, but very atmospheric, and we had the place to ourselves.
Track Notes
It was our first time in the region, which is a five hour round trip from Queenstown. The start of the walk is accessed on Home Hills Run Road, passing through a number of gates along the way.
Mostly off track except at the very start, where you can follow a 4WD track for a very short while, then turn north to cross Shepherds Hut Creek on the water race management track. (My red line is a rough estimate here). After crossing you walk through tussock grass to ascend the spur which leads to point 1857m. (There is a faint track on the spur, but by then you know where you are going – up! From point 1857m you could go north to the high point of the range at 1870m, but we didn’t bother. Blue arrow points out where we parked the car, and the red arrow points out the faint track on the spur. Sophia just visible bottom right of the photo. Falls Dam distant left.
We used track notes in Day Walks of New Zealand: Central Otago and Queenstown. The picture above shows where we parked the car (blue arrow), which was next to Shepherds Hut Creek. You can also see the faint track on the spur (red arrow), which eventually enters a rock field near the top.
We had to walk through tussock grass to meet the faint track, which was more obvious near the bottom of the spur. Climbing up the spur we passed by point 1334m and then a boulder field on way to our end point at 1857m of elevation.
Hawkdun Range ascent (point 1857m): The Scenery
Driving in, with the Hawkdun Range in front of us. The weather looked a bit ominous. Thankfully the patron saint of people who accidentally left their rain pants in Queenstown took pity on me, and restricted the onslaught to a shower plus a 10 minute hail storm, which hurt my face. Just after the hail storm. I thought I had come across some snow (bottom left), but it was in fact just accumulated hail. (The background is a bit overexposed on this shot; sorry). Interesting patterns on some rocks. Getting up there. You can see Sophia (centre left) approaching the summit though a rock field. I wonder, is a fence really necessary at 1850m? Who or what are they fencing off from where? Looking west over the St Bathans Range. These look much more impressive when viewed from the west, which I did in winter
The tops. A bit hard to capture, but lots of high country to the east. The clouds look very low. Sophia enjoying the novelty of snow. This at roughly 1857m of elevation. Me getting excited about a partially white Christmas (well, it was the 23rd, but close enough). They are hard to come by in the southern hemisphere. The ridge on the eastern side of the summit. We took our pictures in the snow on the left. Good job we didn’t venture too far because it drops away quickly.
Heading back down. Descending. Quite steep; it was pretty much a straight up and down walk. Looking back out of the valley. Falls Dam on the left. Back near the start looking up. We finished in tall tussock grass. Looking back up at the summit. We walked up on the left. The Ida Water Race, and the mountain we climbed in the background. A water race is like a very small canal for servicing mines (in the past) and I assume farms. They are a very neat piece of engineering; this one runs for many kilometres. Taken back at the start. On the way out. No filter needed to capture the golden hues of The Maniototo.
And a funny coincidence…
We drank this wine the day after, and the blurb pointed out that our wine came from the very valley we started our walk in. The river originates in the range we climbed, and in the one opposite.
