85
alt caption
By Michael Beckmann
2023-11-24T00:00:00.000Z • Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand

Solo Hiking the Rees-Dart Track in New Zealand

A 3 day trip of hiking the 67km Rees-Dart Track in Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand.

Hike

Film about the hike



Links

Start / Finish

  • This is a point to point hike. 
  • One end being Muddy Creek Car Park (a 4WD road continues for a few kms)
  • The other end is Chinaman's Bluff Car Park, which is reached by a fine weather road (you have to cross multiple fords). 
  • Both ends can be reached by shuttle from Queenstown, which is like a 1.5 to 2 hours drive. 

Season

  • It’s recommended to do this hike during the summer months, which is when I did it. 
  • During winter this hike is prone to being snowed in and has avalanche sections you need to cross.  
  • Also, one Critical Bridge is removed during winter as it’s right in an avalanche zone.

Campsites / Huts

  • There are four huts on this track, which are:
    • Shelter Rock Hut
    • Dart Hut
    • Daleys Flat Hut
  • All huts have campsite spots.
  • There is also this Rock Biv you can use. 
  • You are allowed to wild camp, but have to be 500m away from a hut. 

Maps / Info

  • Please see the DOC website for detailed information on the Rees-Dart Track.
  • You can visit the Queenstown Town Visitor Centre for the current track conditions. 

Food / Water

  • There is an abundance of water as you are never far from either the Rees River or the Dart River.
  • All the huts have rainwater too you can drink.

Route / Conditions

  • In total the track is 63 km one way, often walked in a counter-clockwise direction.
  • Optional: Side trip to the Cascade Saddle, letting you spend one extra night at Dart Hut (I would recommend it). 
  • The track is well maintained and marked.
  • Some sections see you walk through the forest, others along the river with the Rees Saddle being the exposed section. 
  • Take bug spray as this hike feels invested by sand flies at times..!

1
Hike

Running on May 4, 2024

I was fortunate enough to have my partner drop me off on the road towards Muddy Creek Car Park. However, we do not have a 4WD and after a while the fords became too deep and I hopped out and started hiking. 
I aimed to be ending the day at Dart Hut, however having done some kms I noticed I would not have the pace to reach this, so I set my mind to spending the night at Shelter Rock Hut.
The reason for this was that the valley walk, up along the Rees River, is pretty muddy making you slow. 
Once past the Rees-dart Earnslaw Bridge, you walk a bit higher up, making the ground dryer and the pace picked up. Having done that for 3 kms, you reach a forest section all the way until Shelter Rock Hut. The forest does open up multiple times giving you a glimpse of what is yet to come!
With some great views I had my diner at Shelter Rock Hut and hit the sack.
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
+22

2
Hike

Day 2

An early morning start at 5am made me start the day with a headlamp. My goal was to reach the Rees Saddle around sunrise. However, I once again had underestimated the time it would take me to reach it, so I enjoyed the sun rising while still walking up to the Rees Saddle. 
Once on top I made sure to make the little 200m detour to the Highest Point and take in a full view of the Snowy Creek valley, the highlight of the trip!
After this you begin going down, use this Critical Bridge to cross the river (which is only there in winter) and if you follow the itinerary like I did it, you can enjoy lunch at Dart Hut. 
If you want to spend an extra day on the trail, you can decide make this hut your base for two nights and go on a side trip the following day to the Cascade Saddle. I continued on to Daleys Flat Hut. 
Getting to Daleys Flat Hut, you will cross the Cattle Flat which has this Rock Biv. A pretty cool spot if you wish to bivouac for a night. 
I reached Daleys Flat Hut pretty quickly as the whole walk from Dart Hut was in good condition and slightly going down, as you are walking downstream along the Dart River. 
Reaching the hut I had a warm welcome of probably a gazillion sand flies. Man there were a lot here, I have never encountered that many before. Fortunately the hut is closed off well and everyone paid extra attention to close the doors behind them, quickly! 
With the sound of buzzing flies I slept well. 
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
+34

3
Hike

Day 3

Most of today's section is slightly downhill on a well maintained track. There are two slight climbs to get around the Sandy and Chinamans Bluffs.
At no particular moment did I find it challenging and before I knew it I was at the Chinamans Bluff Car Park. Here I got picked up and we made our way back to Queenstown.
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
Image not captioned
+5