The Kepler Track is a 3-4 day, 60km loop located in Fiordland National Park on the South Island of New Zealand. The track starts on the shore of Lake Te Anau and climbs into some spectacular alpine scenery before descending to the shores of Lake Manapouri.
I completed this track in April 2019 with a small group, including one of my close friends from home who was also travelling in New Zealand at the same time. This was another magical hike for the books. In particular, the magic alpine scenery on Day 2 made me feel like I was traversing Middle Earth like our favourite Hobbit friends in the Lord of the Rings.
The Kepler Track is one of New Zealand’s ten Great Walks. I’ve been lucky enough to explore the Tongariro Northern Circuit and the Abel Tasman Coastal Track as well. Although these ten trails are selected as some of the best in the country, there are so many other routes to explore in New Zealand that were just as epic, but not nearly as busy (or as expensive for international folks).
Here is some beta for you to use while planning your hike on the Kepler Track.
Trail Stats
Distance: 60km
Elevation: 2,185 m (cumulative)
Route Type: Loop
Difficulty: Moderate
Hiking Season: Late October to late April – outside of this time, only folks with winter alpine experience and appropriate equipment should attempt this track.
Planning Resources
- The Department of Conservation (affectionately called DoC) website has lots of information and topographic maps of the trail
Preparing for the Trip
Itinerary
The Kepler Track is typically completed in 3-4 days, and can be done in a clock-wise or counter-clockwise direction. We completed the trail in 4 days in a counter-clockwise direction at a pretty mellow pace.
Given I was doing this with friends, I wanted this to be a positive social experience, and it was. If I were to do it again, I probably would have aimed to hike this over 2 or 3 days instead. The trail is almost completely flat from Iris Burn Hut onwards, so you could make very good time on this section if you wanted to cut out a day.
Transportation to Trailhead
I parked my vehicle at the Kepler Track car park, located near the control gates on Lake Te Anau. This is just a couple of minutes outside of Te Anau.
While that is the main entry/exit point from the trail, there is a second trailhead about 8km south of the control gates called Rainbow Reach. If you are going with a group and wanted to do a car shuttle to avoid 8km of flat walking at the end of the trail, that could be a good option.
Sleeping Options
There are three huts on the Kepler Track: Luxmore Hut (km 14), Iris Burn Hut (km 28), and Moturau Hut (km 44). There are also two campsites on the trail: one at Brod Bay (km 5) and one at Iris Burn (km 28). Campers on this track have seperate facilities and cannot use the hut facilities. Regardless of whether you camp or stay in the huts, you need to book ahead. Check the DoC website for more details.
As with all the Great Walks, there are different rates for international visitors versus New Zealand citizens and residents during the main season. At the time of writing, one night in one of the huts for one adult was $68 for a NZ resident and $102 for an international visitor. Camping was $21 for a NZ resident and $32 for an international visitor.
When I did this hike, I was not considered a NZ resident, and so ended up big-time splurging on the huts. This was actually my most expensive adventure the whole time I was in New Zealand! I have no regrets and it was very special to be able to have this experience with friends from home, but would opt to camp or to do this walk in the off-season if I were to do it again.
On the Trail
Day 1:
Our ragtag group started early from the Kepler Track trailhead located by the Kepler Control Gates.
Fun fact: these control gates regulate the flow of water down the Waiau River and into Lake Manapouri. This lake serves as a reservoir for the Manapouri Hydro Station. At 800 MW capacity, Manapouri is the largest hydropower station in New Zealand.
When this power station was constructed, it was proposed that the level of Lake Manapouri was raised by 30 metres to achieve the design capacity of the generators. Raising the lake level by this amount would actually merge it with Lake Te Anau, and flood much of the surrounding land along the Waiau River.
This prompted a massive outcry from the public, including the creation of a “Save Manapouri” campaign. After several years of fighting, the plans to raise the lake level were scrapped.
In 1973, the government created an independent organization called the Guardians of Manapouri, Monowai, and Te Anau. This group, to this day, oversees management of the lake levels in this region.
The victory of the Guardians of Manapouri is seen as one of the first major milestones in environmental protection and conservation in New Zealand.
Now, back to our regular programming …
The trail meanders through a beech forest on the shores of Lake Te Anau with almost no elevation gain between the trail head and Brod Bay. A perfect way to get your legs moving, in my opinion.
After an hour or so, we arrived at Brod Bay. This campsite was situated right on a lovely beach overlooking the lake, and we stopped for a quick snack and bathroom break.
Once you pass Brod Bay, the trail begins to climb uphill. The trail is well graded and so I found it manageable, but you are gaining 750m of elevation over ~5km, so it’s not exactly a “walk in the park” like the previous section.
After an hour or two of climbing through the beech forest, we reached the treeline, where we popped out into the signature alpine tussocks, with 360 degree views of Lake Te Anau, the Murchison Mountains across the lake, and the Jackson Peaks to the south.
The grade of the trail decreases after this point and you continue to climb slowly through the tussocks until you reach Luxmore Hut.
Once we arrived at the hut and claimed our bunks in the massive bunk room, we backtracked on the trail to check out the Luxmore Caves, which are a neat side trip.
We then made ourselves dinner and watched the sun set from the balcony of the hut, our teeth chattering as soon as the sun set.
After a few rounds of cards, we called it a night, as we were keen to get an early start the next morning.
Day 2:
We were up bright and early for a standard hiking breakfast of oats, and were treated to a fantastic sunrise as we had our breakfast. It being April, there was frost lightly sitting on the benches outside and on the tussocks all around.
As we were eating, I recognized a fellow traveller I had met at a hostel in Wellington, and who I had crossed paths with in Te Anau a couple of days earlier. When we met in Te Anau, he expressed that he was doing the entire Kepler in one day! I joked that if we ran into each other, we would have a trail beer to celebrate.
Well, look who had carried a beer all the way up from the trailhead? We had a good laugh and drank the beer together before he continued onwards with his lightweight setup at lighting speed.
We left Luxmore Hut soon after, and continued through the tussocks on a well-defined path.
The trail slowly climbs, and after an hour or so, we reached the turn-off for Mount Luxmore. We ditched our packs on the side of the trail and hiked up for 10-15 minutes to get to the summit. This is a well-formed trail, but a little bit slippery and scrambly at times, so if you are not confident on this terrain or the weather is sub-par, it may not be worth it. On a beautiful, sunny day, this side trip was well worth it!
After stopping for a few pictures, we scrambled back down and continued traversing the trail.
One of the members in our group, who we had picked up in Te Anau, mentioned that a friend of his had recently done this track. This friend provided some riddles to solve that led to some “buried treasure”. Naturally, the next section of the trail went slowly, as we went off-trail frequently to scavenge for this treasure. Unfortunately we could not locate whatever this “buried treasure” was. Better luck to the next person who tries!
This next section of the trail is truly what made me feel like I was part of the Fellowship of the Ring.
We stopped on a panoramic ridge for a quick lunch break, before we descended back into the forest. After a never-ending set of steep switchbacks, we arrived at Iris Burn Hut.
As soon as we arrived at this lower elevation, those pesky sandflies made themselves well known. I was thankful that we were staying in the hut rather than camping here, as having some form of protection from the flies was almost essential.
Day 3:
We were lucky to have such fantastic weather on our alpine day, so when we woke up and it was pouring rain on this day, I had no complaints. I pulled out my rain gear and readied myself for the wet day ahead.
Before continuing onwards, we made a side trip to the lovely Iris Burn Falls. If it hadn’t been raining, a swim would have been great. Perhaps a swim yesterday afternoon would have been more ideal.
Once we had backtracked from the falls, we continued onwards. This next section of the trail is very flat, and we made excellent time.
About halfway between Iris Burn Hut and Moturau Hut, we stopped for lunch at Rocky Point Shelter, which was a welcome reprieve from the rain.
We continued onwards, meandering through a lush beech and podocarp forest, and surrounded by fantails and other Kiwi birds. Finally, we turned a corner, and saw Moturau Hut beckoning us.
This hut is located on the shores of Lake Manapouri, on a lovely sandy beach overlooking the lake.
Just imagine, if Lake Manapouri’s elevation had been raised by 30 metres, most of the trail that we walked today would likely not exist.
We were thankful for a warm place to stay after a wet day, and enjoyed an evening of cards and wine before heading off to bed.
Day 4:
The next morning, we continued onwards, hoping the rain would hold off on us until we were back at our vehicle. The trail continues through lush beech forests, occasionally with views of Lake Manapouri and the Waiau River.
Again, if the level of Lake Manapouri had been raised all those years ago, this part of the trail would not exist.
As one typically does after several days in the backcountry, we spent this section of the trail deciding what exactly we wanted to eat when we got back to civilization. We settled on Italian food – the thought of cheesy, stuffed pasta kept me going on this section. I did think that this section of the trail would have been a really nice trail run, or a nice bike ride.
The trail eventually winds its way through the wetlands along the Waiau River, and after many flat kilometres, we finally arrived back at our car, all of our mouths salivating at the thought of some well-earned pasta and/or pizza after our wilderness excursion.
Once we had all gone back to our respective accommodations for a shower, we re-united and absolutely went to town on Italian food later that evening.
Summary
The second day of the Kepler Track is maybe one of the most stunning hikes I have ever done. It was magical! I enjoyed the other three days but that second day was truly special.
Learning a bit more about the history of environmental activism and conservation in this area, especially given that I ended up working for the company that owns and operates Manapouri power station, was an unexpected highlight of this trip.
Have you ever done the Kepler? Would you aim to do it in a day, or would you prefer to do it over multiple days, like a somewhat sane individual?
