The Routeburn is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks and often called the finest short walk in the country: 32 to 33 kilometres point-to-point through Fiordland and Mount Aspiring National Parks, from beech forest to high alpine basins, past waterfalls and over the Harris Saddle at 1,255 metres. Three days is the classic itinerary, and the track is walkable in either direction.
Because it is a Great Walk, the logistics are run by the Department of Conservation (DOC): huts and campsites must be booked online in season, and peak dates sell out fast. This guide covers the route, transport, bookings, costs and practical preparation.
The route
The track is usually walked east to west, starting at the Routeburn Shelter (the Glenorchy/Queenstown end), which is slightly the more popular direction. Day one: Routeburn Shelter to Routeburn Falls Hut, 9.8 kilometres and three to four hours of steady climbing through beech forest. Day two is the main alpine day: 11.3 kilometres and four and a half to six hours from Routeburn Falls over the Harris Saddle (high point 1,250 to 1,255 metres), past the Hollyford Face and Lake Harris, to Lake Mackenzie Hut. Day three: 12 kilometres and four to five and a half hours from Lake Mackenzie to The Divide, past the 174-metre Earland Falls, Lake Howden and the Key Summit turnoff.
Worthwhile side trips: Conical Hill, about 90 minutes return from the Harris Saddle, and Key Summit near The Divide, a short climb to a lovely alpine tarn viewpoint. Two to four days is the full range most walkers allow; three days and two nights is the standard.
Getting there
The Routeburn Shelter end is 25 kilometres from Glenorchy on a partly unsealed road; Glenorchy is about 45 minutes from Queenstown, and Queenstown to the shelter is roughly 68 kilometres or an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. The Divide end is 85 kilometres from Te Anau on the Te Anau–Milford road, about an hour.
The catch: the two trailheads are roughly 325 kilometres apart by road — four to five hours of driving. You need transport at both ends, which usually means a shuttle operator, a car-relocation service, or linking the Routeburn with the Greenstone and Caples tracks for a five-day, four-night circuit back to your starting point (DOC publishes a brochure for this option). Tracknet, Info & Track and Great Walks Bus are the shuttle names that come up most often; car-relocation companies such as Easy Hike and Trackhopper move your car between ends.
Bookings: the dates sell out fast
In the Great Walks season — 1 November to 30 April — hut and campsite bookings are required and made through DOC’s online booking system. Peak dates, especially weekends and February to March, sell out extremely fast, often within minutes of release; the Routeburn is regularly the first Great Walk to sell out. Bookings open around June of the preceding year — check DOC’s current calendar for the exact release date, as it can shift.
Cancellations trickle back into the system, so it is worth checking again if your dates are gone, and alert services exist for freed-up spots. Outside the season there is no booking: huts are first-come, first-served and paid for with Backcountry Hut Tickets or a Backcountry Hut Pass. Check DOC’s current track page for hut status before you book — hut availability can change between seasons.
Seasons and costs
The Great Walks season is 1 November to 30 April. December to February is the peak: the busiest period but also the most settled weather. February and March are favoured by many walkers for reliable spells with slightly fewer people. Fiordland weather is famously changeable year-round — heavy rain, wind and even summer snow are all possible, whatever the month.
DOC’s published in-season fees (cross-checked against DOC’s site in August 2026; confirm current prices when you book): huts NZ$132 per adult per night for international visitors, NZ$88 for New Zealanders; children NZ$66 / NZ$44. Campsites: NZ$42 / NZ$28 for adults. Off-season, hut fees drop to NZ$35 a night in May and June and NZ$30 from July to October, and camping is NZ$10 a night for adults year-round. A rough independent budget for two hut nights plus shuttles works out to about NZ$300 to $450 per person before food and gear — treat that as an estimate.
There is no track entry fee and day hiking is free. The guided option — Ultimate Hikes, the sole DOC-concession overnight guided operator — runs three days at NZ$1,979 to $2,619 for adults and $985 to $1,485 for children, including transport, lodge accommodation and meals. May to October is winter on the track: snow, ice, avalanche terrain, no rangers, no gas in the huts and some bridges removed. DOC is explicit that special skills and preparation are required.
Practical tips for the track
DOC grades the Routeburn ‘Intermediate: Great Walk / Easier tramping track’ — you need reasonable fitness rather than mountaineering skills, but day two is a long, exposed day above the bushline, and the weather is the main variable. The slopes between Lake Harris, the Harris Saddle and Lake Mackenzie are an avalanche danger zone in early and late season and through winter; partial closures are possible, so check DOC’s alerts.
There is effectively no cellphone coverage on the track, so plan as if you are on your own: full waterproofs, warm layers with no cotton, broken-in boots, a sleeping bag, and all your food and gear. Boil or filter stream water. DOC does not recommend the track for under-10s, and kea — the cheeky alpine parrots — will investigate anything you leave outside, so keep packs and boots under cover at the huts.
Arjun Mehta is the pen name behind Mountains Bliss — practical mountain-travel guides with routes, costs, seasons and safety notes, researched from real trekker discussions and cross-checked before publishing. No sponsored posts, ever.
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