Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mt Aspiring National Park
& Around Queenstown
Why Go?
Mt Aspiring National Park is a fitting end to New Zealand's Southern Alps. It has wide val-
leys with secluded flats, more than 100 glaciers, and mountain ranges with peaks higher than
2700m - including 3033m Mt Aspiring/Tititea, NZ's tallest mountain outside Aoraki/Mt
Cook National Park.
The park stretches from the Haast River in the north to the Humboldt Mountains in the
south, where it borders Fiordland National Park. The park is now part of the Te Wahipoun-
amu - South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, which includes Aoraki/Mt Cook,
Westland Tai Poutini and Fiordland National Parks.
At more than 3555 sq km, Aspiring is the country's third-largest national park, with the
majority of tramping activity taking place around Glenorchy, where trailheads for the famous
Routeburn, Rees-Dart and Greenstone Caples tracks can be found. The tramping territory to
the north, through the Matukituki and Wilkin-Young valleys, provides more mountain
solitude.
When to Go
The weather varies greatly across Aspiring, with the mountains dictating the terms. Glen-
orchy is dry, notching up around 1140mm of rain each year, with the lower Rees, Matukituki
and Wilkin not much wetter at around 1500mm. Head into the Route Burn and Dart valleys,
and the western half of the Greenstone and Caples, and you can multiply that by around five.
Snow may fall above 1000m in almost any month, and spring and early summer are high risk
for avalanches.
The weather is generally settled from late December to March, with February often sug-
gested best for tramping. However, being an alpine region you must be prepared for sudden
changes in weather and unexpected storms at any time of year.
