The Mt Cassidy – Blimit Traverse starts on the Cons Track and finishes on the Temple Basin Track and Arthur’s Pass Walking Track. But in between it is one of the more adventurous of the very accessible walks starting on the highway at Arthur’s Pass. I’ve got used to these walks being spectacular but I think this one probably took the views to a new level.
You get to bag two peaks, Mt Cassidy (1850m) and Blimit (1922m, apparently short for “Bloody Limit”), the latter being a longish scramble to probably the best views of the day. Returning via Temple Basin makes it a quite varied circuit. Apart from epic alpine vistas, there is very attractive beech forest on the way up the Cons Track, amongst the nicest I’ve seen in New Zealand. So for views and adventure in a medium to long day this route is hard to beat.
The Cons Track is steep and potentially slippery, there’s some navigation required once above the bushline, and the scramble to Blimit is quite long on the notoriously loose “weetbix” rock of the area. (More substantial snow cover could make this a bit easier). Nevertheless, we are not mountaineers and found it all pretty straightforward, although this was in ideal conditions. More info in my track notes at the end.
(And as an aside, the constructed and mostly flat Arthur’s Pass Walking Track looks to be very nice, but it was already dark when we got there so no pictures I’m afraid. We might return to do this as a ‘leg-stretcher’ one day.)
Mt Cassidy – Blimit Traverse: The Scenery
A video of the 360 degree views from Mt Cassidy…
Another video, this time of the views from Blimit…
Track Notes
To Mt Cassidy and Blimit
Start at the Devil’s Punchbowl Car Park. It’s firstly a steep ascent through beech forest on the Cons Track, which starts after the first bridge on the way to Devils Punchbowl Falls. From above the bushline you make your way to the left around bluffs following orange tipped poles, then steeply up a chute, and along the ridge to Mt Cassidy.
Keep to the highway side of the ridge especially in snowy/ icy conditions, as you don’t want to slip hundreds of vertical metres into Devils Punchbowl Creek. From Mt Cassidy it’s then a sometimes tricky scramble up to Blimit on loose rock.
Return from Blimit
From Blimit, back track until you feel comfortable descending to the basin on scree or snow. Walk past the big tarn, head to the left a bit and drop down from the ridge to meet a track before Page Shelter. Take this track (left) down to the main ski buildings, and from there descend to the highway on the constructed Temple Basin Track. Cross the highway and just a little way towards Arthur’s Pass Village you can drop down through a few metres of forest to meet the Arthur’s Pass Walking Track, which takes you back to your car.
Note that you could turn back at Mt Cassidy to make it a shorter walk, (but expect a steep descent), or do the circuit missing out Blimit.
Allocate a full day for this walk, especially with all of the photos you’ll take ;-)
Great photos and equally great descriptions of each. Very helpful and inspiring.
Great photos and equally great descriptions of each. Very helpful and inspiring.
We will be in Arthur’s Pass in early January (2025) and will hike some of these trails you have described.
Cheers Lesley. For those with a bit of experience off track Arthur’s Pass is a real hiking playground.
This site has been gold for looking up hikes in the area. Thanks very much for all your work. I notice DOC were also impressed with your photo of Sophia on the ridge for a sense of scale, and have made her the cover photo for Cons Track. Such fame 🙂
Hi Emma. Thanks for your feedback. Always nice to know I have an audience 🙂. Shame I’m no longer in NZ, although I hope to be back for a holiday this coming summer. Sophia does pop up here and there, like a few articles I wrote for Wilderness Magazine and a couple of photos they featured. I did send a few photos to DOC although I forget which. I’ll have to check that one out and show Sophia tonight. Appearing on the DOC site is the ultimate in outdoor cred right!? 😄
Hello! Your article is truly fantastic! I’m on a working holiday in Arthur’s Pass and eager to explore all the hiking activities in Arthur’s Pass mentioned in your article! I have already been to Avalanche Peak, Mt.Aicken, Cons Track(the final way I arrived is the 3 cylinder sign), Carol Track included some of Roam Ridge, and other easier track . May I ask you, some of these hikes appear to be in the snow season (I’m not sure if it’s the first snow or after it has been snowing for a while), when climbing Mt. Cassidy, did you prepare crampons? Or did you manage to complete it just relying on hiking boots and trekking poles? Looking forward to your reply.
Hi Jerry. The dates on my posts are the dates we did the walk. That was 22nd of May for Mt Cassidy, so a similar time of year. I don’t think we used either crampons or ice axe – most snow was melted plus you walk on the north side of that ridge which catches the sun. Blimit is the harder mountain to climb – I suspect that could be a bit dangerous in winter. We often carry our ice axe and crampons but don’t use them that often. I just wrote a blog post on winter tramping so have a look at that.
There are safer alternatives for winter tramping than Arthur’s Pass, like the Craigieburn Range and surrounds. and the area around Hanmer Springs and Lewis Pass.
Oh, I just re-read your comment and realised your are working in Arthur’s Pass. I guess you don’t want to travel all the way to Hanmer Springs! But the Craigieburnsv are quite good, and not too far away with a car. Mt Bealey is also a good winter option because the ascent is mostly on a ridge, which is safer from avalanches.
Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful and I will refer to your article to decide if it suits my hiking trip. I’m also very happy to see you’ve been updating your Australia hiking blog recently. I’ll be going to Australia this year too, and I’ll be able to continue referring to your articles then. I’ll keep following your updates and will leave a comment on the blog.