Routeburn Track, Alpine hiking trail in South Island, New Zealand.
The Routeburn Track is a multi-day walking path on New Zealand's South Island that runs for thirty-two kilometers through Fiordland and Mount Aspiring National Parks. The route crosses valleys flanked by high ridges and open grassland above the treeline, where small tarns and narrow streams appear along the way.
Māori groups used this route for centuries to trade between coasts and carry pounamu from the west. European settlers in the late nineteenth century began adapting the path as a stock and prospecting route.
The name comes from the Route Burn, the stream the path follows; "burn" is the Scots word for a stream, brought by settlers. Since 1968 guided walks have run the track, and the Routeburn Falls Hut doubles in winter as a ski-touring base for the Serpentine Range. A kea is a regular visitor at that hut.
Walkers must book a bed in the mountain huts ahead of time, as spaces fill quickly from October through April. The trail requires solid fitness because of steep climbs and changing weather at higher elevations.
Harris Saddle sits at twelve hundred and fifty-five meters (4,120 feet) above sea level and opens views into both national parks at once. On clear days you can see the peaks of the Humboldt Mountains and Lake Harris below the pass from there.
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