Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park, Canterbury NZ

Great views and nice variety on this walk to Mid Hill (1831m) in Craigieburn Forest Park, with forest, tussock, a rocky ridge & lots of tarns.

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

The climb to Mid Hill (1831m) via Lagoon Saddle is mostly easy travel with maybe 300m of moderate scrambling along a rocky ridge to get to the summit. Once out of the beech and pine at the start there are views for the rest of the walk and many attractive tarns between Lagoon Saddle and the final climb up onto the ridge. Arthur’s Pass is to the north, but some of the best views are the Black Range to the south-east, a patchwork of dark green forest and grey scree. Views west are over rugged and remote country. A very satisfying walk. 

Track notes at the end. Another shorter but similarly spectacular walk is up nearby Mt Bruce

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle: The Scenery

First a few shots on the tracked section taken on the day we climbed Mt Bruce (in winter). 

Mt Bruce Circuit, Craigieburn Forest Park
Nice beech forest early on in the walk.

Mt Bruce Circuit, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mt Bruce Circuit, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mt Bruce Circuit, Craigieburn Forest Park
Looking up towards Arthur’s Pass as mist cleared from the valley. Bit of zoom required for this shot.
Mt Bruce Circuit, Craigieburn Forest Park
The upper sections of Blind Spur viewed from above Lagoon Saddle.

Off-track from here, and back to summer…

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
The big tarn near Lagoon Saddle.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Lots of smaller tarns on the way up. The ground was boggy in places despite a warm dry spell.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
I had seen this tarn on the map and was looking forward to seeing it. And this is what I found!
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Looking towards the summit along a rocky ridge.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Panorama looking back down towards the start.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
The Black Range

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
I climbed along this rocky ridge to get to below the summit (which is behind me). An easy climb after this.

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Long Creek and Mt Packard to the left. Loved the patchy shadows.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
The Grey Range extends off to the left. Perhaps the name is descriptive.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Possibly Mt Murchison up there, the tallest mountain in Arthur’s Pass.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Panorama north-east.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Panorama south-west.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Junction Stream
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Here I go back along the ridge. I could have returned down the scree to the right, but I would have had to climb back up some and the ridge was a little easier on the way back.

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
These tarns looked better in afternoon light, so here they are on my way back.

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Mt Bruce, which we climbed in winter a couple of years ago. A good shorter option with excellent views.

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park

Back on to the track…

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Cloudy weather over the Craigieburns.
Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
Waimakariri Valley

Track Notes

Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park
On a marked track until near Lagoon Saddle, then off track on tussock, and later scree, then a rocky ridge to the summit.

The route is on a marked track until near Lagoon Saddle, at first through beech forest (with a section of pine trees), then through tussock grass. At the left turn in the track near Lagoon Saddle go down the hill towards the outlet to the big tarn. It’s then up hill all the way to the upper tarn, and up onto the ridge. The ground was a bit boggy in places, and this was after a dry spell.

The final few hundred metres to the summit required moderate scrambling that could feel a bit scary in windy or wet weather. An alternative route (blue arrows on my map) would be to avoid the ridge and climb down then up scree slopes to near the summit, then an easy scramble (without exposure) to finish.

It will take roughly 7-8 hours. I did this as a day walk but you could spend a night at A-Frame Hut and make it a more leisurely two day walk.

 

Author: Edward Hathway

I'm a clinical psychologist and keen hiker.

2 thoughts on “Mid Hill via Lagoon Saddle, Craigieburn Forest Park, Canterbury NZ”

  1. Impressed with your persevering along that chossy ridge to the summit. I’ve always bypassed it when heading along the ridge to Amphitheatre Ck.

    1. I’d read another blog post that said there was some scrambling but not too bad. So I just kept going using that as reassurance! It turned out not to be too bad, although I wouldn’t want to do it in high winds.

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