2019-05-01 Wilderness

WHILE THE GREAT WALKS offer an excellent

introduction to the enjoyment of tramping, they also provide

launchpads to more intrepid places where fewer trampers

venture.

Just an hour off the Routeburn Track, the Route Burn

North Branch leads to an alpine valley hidden from the

Great Walk by a small hill, revealing a series of broad

meadows framed by 1000m rock walls. Most of the track is

on the easy-going Great Walk, so there’s a lot of gain for

little pain.

Starting from Routeburn Shelter, the route to the North

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utes, slowly climbing through dense beech forest above the

azure-coloured Route Burn as it funnels through a gorge.

South Island robin are becoming common here thanks

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above the canopy.

The track emerges from the bush at the idyllic Routeburn

Flats, where the valley opens to views of the 2000m peaks

of the Humboldt Mountains to the north and south and the

Routeburn Falls at the head of the valley. Routeburn Flats

Hut includes a shelter and is a good spot for lunch.

Route Burn North Branch, Mt Aspiring National Park

The other Routeburn

FROM ABOVE: The secluded Route Burn

North Branch is as equally stunning as the

Routeburn; The tumbling North Branch

GEORGE DRIVER