Lake Rotoiti Loop Walk

Nelson Lakes National Park, NZ

Though it wasn’t originally in our plans, Mac & I decided we wanted to check out the Nelson Lakes region. We had heard about some pretty awesome hikes there and wanted to check it out for ourselves! We made the 1.25 hour drive from Nelson mid-morning and arrived in a small town called St. Arnaud just after lunchtime. We parked our car in Kerr Bay and readied ourselves for the Lake Rotoiti Loop walk.

This 31km loop walk circumnavigates Lake Rotoiti. Though the hike can be done in one 7-10 hour leg, we decided to split it up and stay in one of the back country huts on the trail for the evening. Since we wouldn’t be camping and we were only hiking for 2 days, our packs were incredibly light!! It was such a weird feeling – I kept thinking that I was forgetting something! We left the stunning views of the car park just before 2pm and headed out on the east side of the lake walking south.

As we hiked alongside the lake edge the views remained stellar & incredible. The mountains behind the lake were picture perfect and we stopped more than once to take in their beauty. Compared to the other tracks we’ve walked on, this one was quite rough. The terrain was flat, but the track itself was full of rocks, roots, and several stream crossings! It sure kept things interesting!

We arrived at Lakehead Hut around 4:40pm – 11km from the start of the trail. This hut is 620m above sea level and can sleep 28 people. On one side of the hut are the bunks, and the other side has the cooking area complete with sink, faucet & dining table. There’s also a wood burning furnace in which Mac quickly got a fire going, because as we arrived near sunset, it was NOT warm! We had a quiet night at the hut playing cards, and for a rare treat, reading our books and listening to music! To save space & weight we had never hiked with our books or speaker before, but it was rather nice having something else to do other than losing to Mac at Rummy!

Mac’s blazing fire lasted until about 3am. It was then that I got woken up by the cold and had to put my toque on! We finally woke up at 7am (it was still pitch black outside!) and after a quick breakfast we were off – wearing approximately ALL of the clothes we brought with us! The pipes to the inside faucet were frozen in the morning and there was heaps of frost on the ground. I may be Canadian and all, but MAN was it COLD!!!

I mentioned earlier that the loop walk is 31km, but you can trim that number down to 23km if you choose to do the Traverse River crossing. There’s no bridge at the crossing which means we’d be getting wet feet. At sub-zero temperatures. Uhhh, NO THANK YOU!!! So, we continued south for 4.6km until we reached the swing bridge that would allow us to cross the river with dry feet. On the other side of the river we headed north towards Coldwater Hut. This hut is 5.5km from the swing bridge and we made it there by 11am – just in time for a sunny lunch on the yard!

After a nice almost hour-long break we donned the packs once more and headed out on the final leg. The path remained close to the west side of the lake for most of the hike before it started diverting uphill into the forest. Two and a half hours later we came out at Mt Roberts Road. There was still another 4.8km to Kerr Bay (mostly along dirt roads), so Mac watched our packs while I hustled to the car. I made it to the car park ~7 hours after we left the hut that morning. Not bad for a 20km day!

I drove back to pick Mac up and we then headed to Blenheim where we found a hostel and promptly proceeded to forget all acceptable social behaviour as we walked around in a daze all night! We sure slept good that night! This loop walk was different from the previous hiked we’ve done, but it was really cool! I liked staying in a hut for a change (and the light pack didn’t hurt too much either!). The shorter distance of this hike was great too. We were able to appreciate the beauty of the lake & surrounding mountains without having to get too deep into the bush/back country.

One day I’d love to explore more of this area (when it’s warm of course!!). There’s a nearby lake called Blue Lake that apparently is home to the clearest water in New Zealand. It’s a 4-7 day trip with an alpine crossing though… so I’d definitely save that one for a warmer day! In the meantime, I’ll fondly look back on the Lake Rotoiti Loop Walk and highly recommend the Nelson Lakes region to anyone!

Additional Information

St. Arnaud is 1.25 hours from Nelson and about the same (100km) from Blenheim. There’s a DOC office there and they’re very helpful.

The Lakehead Hut is a serviced hut and is $15pp/night. (Serviced means that there’s an indoor sink, and a wood supply for fires – VERY important in winter!)

Colwater Hut is basic and is only $5pp/night. This would be a great hut to stay in the summer as it’s right on the lake and there’s a jetty on which to catch some rays! It sleeps 12.

If you’re in the Nelson Lakes National Park, there are HEAPS of trails & tracks to check out. Mac & I only scratched the surface of what is available!