Milford Track

Gravel track through the Clinton Valley on the Milford Track, between steep rock walls

Photo: rheins, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Distance
54 km (33 miles)
Country
New Zealand
Difficulty
Moderate
Type of trip
Hiking trail

The Milford Track runs 53.5 km through Fiordland National Park, from Glade Wharf at the head of Lake Te Anau to Sandfly Point on Milford Sound/Piopiotahi. There's no road to either end. From Te Anau you take a bus to Te Anau Downs and then a boat of 1 hour 15 minutes to the start, and at the finish a 20-minute boat takes you to Milford, where buses go back to Te Anau. All of that has to be booked ahead. The track is well marked, but parts are steep, rough, muddy and slippery, and DOC doesn't recommend it for children under 10. On day 3 you climb over 500 m to Omanui/McKinnon Pass and then drop 1000 m to Dumpling Hut.

In the Great Walks season the rules are strict. You walk it in one direction only, over 4 days and 3 nights, staying in turn at the Department of Conservation's Clinton, Mintaro and Dumpling huts, which have 40 bunks each. Camping isn't allowed anywhere on the track. According to Wikipedia only 40 independent walkers can start each day, and the places are usually gone months ahead. In the 2026/27 season a bunk cost $152 a night for international visitors and $106 for New Zealanders, in NZ dollars.

Highlights along the way

  1. Clinton Valley: Day 2 follows the Clinton River for 17.5 km to its source, Lake Mintaro. Past Hirere Falls you get your first view of the pass and the Pompolona icefield.
  2. Omanui/McKinnon Pass: Quintin McKinnon found the pass in 1888 and was the first guide to take walkers through. There's a memorial to him on the climb, and the pass shelter, at 1154 m, is the highest point of the track.
  3. Sutherland Falls: A side trip of 1 hour 30 minutes return on day 3. The falls drop 580 m in 3 leaps from Lake Quill.
  4. Mackay Falls and Bell Rock: On the last day, beside the Arthur River. Bell Rock was hollowed out by the falls and then turned upside down, and you can stand inside it.
  5. Lake Ada: Rock cuttings take the track along the Arthur River and Lake Ada, and the last 3 km are on a wide, smooth track built by prison labour between 1890 and 1892. You have to reach Sandfly Point in time for the early afternoon boat.

Distance

53.5 km (33 miles) one way, in four fixed days: 5 km from Glade Wharf to Clinton Hut, 17.5 km to Mintaro Hut, 13 km over the pass to Dumpling Hut and 18 km to Sandfly Point.

Best time to go

DOC gives the 2026/27 Great Walks season as 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027, with the last departure on 28 April. Outside it there are no rangers, no bookings and bunks are first come, first served, but DOC strongly recommends against walking it then. Bridges are taken out for the winter, there's ice, snow, avalanches and short days. Even in season the avalanche risk can last into December, and walkers may be flown over dangerous sections at their own cost. Fiordland gets up to 9,000 mm of rain a year, floods can close the track and there's no mobile signal, so DOC recommends travel insurance. In November 2026 bookings were open for the 2026/27 season. Check the Milford Track page on doc.govt.nz for dates, prices and conditions before you plan.

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