A walk in the tussock grassed country behind Queenstown, with views over the Skippers backcountry and back to the Remarkables.
A nice walk in the hills/mountains behind Queenstown, not far from the Coronet Peak ski field, although the overcast conditions let the scenery down a bit for the photos that follow. 2023 edit: I’ve added some photos from as far as Mt Dewar with much better lighting.
You ascend maybe 350m to the summit of Mt Dewar (1310m), then descend to Devils Creek, and return via a saddle and then the road. About 700m of ascent/descent. The country appears to be at the transition between the pointy Southern Alps, and domed mountains of the Central Otago interior. Mostly tussock grass with some rocky areas, and you can visit the upper Shotover River, although we didn’t have the time or legs for this on the day we did it.
We combined two shorter walks into one quite long one, and turned it into a loop with maybe 30 minutes walk back up the road. Track notes can be found on the DOC Lake Wakatipu walks brochure: walks 10 and 12.
On a combination of vehicle tracks, obvious foot tracks, and sealed roads.
Mt Dewar/Devils Creek Track: The Scenery
Fox gloves and interesting cloud over the Remarkables. Impressive speargrass. The Devils Creek Track in the foreground. It drops down to the left and then climbs back up to Coronet Peak Road. Skippers backcountry. Panorama from Mt Dewar (1310m). Wakatipu Panorama from Mt Dewar (1310m). Devils Creek and Bowen Peak centre right, and Cecil peak on the other side of Lake Wakatipu. Possibly a slight detour to get this view if you are doing the Devils Creek Track. This photo from when did a loop via Skippers Road, but it was close to the junction with the Devils Creek Track near Mt Dewar. Glimpses of the upper Shotover River. Rocky slopes above as the track ascends from Devil’s Creek. You can see the track out near the bottom of the picture. The Remarkables viewed as we approached the road. We had to walk up the road because nobody stopped for us. Wasn’t too bad. The Remarkables in the distance.
