Matukituki Valley Tracks Brochure
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OTAGO The valleys of the west and east branches of the Mount Aspiring National Park Your safety Matukituki River are an hour’s drive from Wanaka Read the DOC publication Planning a trip in the backcountry Further information: In the West Matukituki valley, the park’s Matukituki and offer enjoyable day walks, as well as access to before you start, visit www.doc.govt.nz/planning-a- For recreation and conservation Nau mai, haere mai, boundary runs just beyond Aspiring Hut and a number of demanding tramping and climbing backcountry-trip. Make sure you choose a track that suits information, visit the DOC visitor valley tracks routes in Mount Aspiring National Park. The along the bush edge on the true left of the river. your level of fitness and experience. centre: tauti mai In the East Matukituki valley, the boundary is Mount Aspiring National Park special features of this region were recognised Follow the Outdoor Safety Code. Tititea/Mount Aspiring nationally in 1964 through the creation of the along the bush edge on the true right of the river Plan your trip. National Park Visitor Centre Welcome to the up to Junction Flat. Remember that the true national park and internationally in 1990 with the Tell someone your plans. 1 Ballantyne Road, Wanaka right of the river is the right bank when Matukituki valley establishment of Te Wāhipounamu – South West Be aware of the weather. PO Box 93, Wanaka 9305 looking downstream. New Zealand World Heritage Area. Know your limits. PHONE: 03 443 7660 Take sufficient supplies. EMAIL: [email protected] The valley walks cross farmland and beech forest Warning: The last 33 km of the access road is Visit www.adventuresmart.org.nz for more information. www.doc.govt.nz flats, while the higher altitude routes negotiate unsealed. The last 10 km from the car park is alpine tussock grasslands and snowfields. The subject to washouts and flooded creeks and should only Your safety is your responsibility. lower grassy river flats are private farmland – be accessed in fine weather. Check the road conditions You should carry the NZTopo50 maps CA10 and CA11. please respect this and do not disturb livestock. before beginning your drive. This pamphlet is a guide only and should not be used for navigation purposes. Treat all river crossings with great care and wait if the river is too high. The terms ‘true left’ and ‘true right’ are defined by looking down the river or water flow. Dogs and other domestic animals are not permitted in national parks. Our national parks have been preserved for their recreation values and to protect significant native flora and fauna. It is vital that habitats of threatened species are properly protected. No unauthorised drones within Mount Aspiring National Park. Pearl Flat. Drones can: Photo: Rochelle Richardson • interfere with helicopters for search and rescue, fire, Published by: and operational needs Department of Conservation PO Box 93, Wanaka 9343 • cause noise, disturbing native birds and visitors. New Zealand Editing and design: DOC Creative Services Conservation House Wellington Check, Clean, Dry June 2019 Stop the spread of didymo and other This publication is produced using freshwater pests. Remember to Check, paper sourced from well-managed, renewable and legally logged Clean, Dry all items before entering, forests. and when moving between, waterways. Near Aspiring Hut, looking up the valley. Photo: Shona Sangster R152878 History Natural history Hunting and fishing Tititea, the Māori name for Mount Aspiring, means Most of the Southern You must get a permit from DOC before carrying a ‘steep peak of glistening white’. Throughout the year, Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te firearm in the park. Māori travelled from Foveaux Strait and Coastal Otago Moana started to form There are brown and rainbow trout in the Matukituki to the inland lakes to collect kākāpō, kākā, kererū/wood over 220 million years River – you will need a current fishing licence to fish pigeon and tūī from the forest. For the first 200 years of ago as sediment and here. For more information, see https://fishandgame.org.nz. Te Wāhipounamu – South West New Zealand World Heritage Area Māori settlement, there would also have been moa along rock lying on top of Matukituki Valley Protection Project the forest edges. volcanic rocks on the This joint partnership between the Department of Huts and camping South West New Zealand is one of the great World Heritage is a global concept that identifies seafloor. Intense heat and Conservation (DOC) and the Matukituki Charitable wilderness areas of the Southern Hemisphere. natural and cultural sites of world significance Kāti Māmoe and Kāi Tahu both had named settlements Aspiring Hut, which is owned by the New Zealand pressure consolidated Trust aims to minimise the threat of predators to native Alpine Club (NZAC) and managed by DOC, has a wood Known to Māori as Te Wāhipounamu (the place – places so special that protecting them is of around the shores of Lakes Wanaka and Hāwea, Rifleman/tītitipounamu. the rock, which was then flora and fauna and to ensure that the valley’s original of greenstone), the South West New Zealand concern for all people. including Nehenehe (meaning forest), on the north side Photo: Michael Hamilton | burner for heating, mattresses and tank water. From uplifted to form the Main Creative Commons native wildlife is reinstated and thriving. World Heritage Area incorporates the Aoraki/ of the mouth of the Matukituki River. Several sites on late October to late April, a hut warden is in residence Some of the best examples of animals and plants Divide. During the ice ages, Mount Cook, Westland/Tai Poutini, Fiordland the lake shores have ovens for cooking cabbage tree/ and cookers and gas are provided. At all other times, that were once found on the ancient supercontinent huge glaciers filled and scoured out the valleys to give To find out more about this predator control project or and Mount Aspiring national parks, covering tī rākau roots. trampers need their own cookers and gas. Gondwana live in this World Heritage Area. the landscape we see today. how to get involved, go to www.mctrust.co.nz or 2.6 million hectares. www.doc.govt.nz, or visit the Tititea/Mount Aspiring French Ridge Hut (NZAC), Colin Todd Hut (NZAC) and Government surveyor John Turnbull Thompson was the Beech is the dominant forest type in the Matukituki National Park Visitor Centre. Liverpool Hut (DOC) have mattresses and tank water first European to see Mount Aspiring/Tititea in 1857, valley. Red beech/tawhairaunui prefer warm valley sites but no heating. French Ridge and Colin Todd huts also while James Hector was the first European to explore the and are common just below Aspiring Hut. Mountain have VHF radios. West Matukituki valley in 1862. Farming began in the beech/tawhairauriki dominate the drier, eastern end of valley in the 1870s. Trampers should leave the huts clean and tidy, and pack the valley, while silver beech/tawhai increase towards out everything that they pack in. the wetter, western end. Ferns and mosses are a feature Important note: Hut tickets for the three NZAC huts can Check, Clean, Dry of the usually open forest. Above the tree line, at about 1,100 m, stunted subalpine shrubland gives way to alpine be purchased at the DOC Visitor Centre in Wanaka or Stop the spread of didymo and other from the Aspiring Hut warden. freshwater pests. Remember to Check, tussock grasslands and fell fields. Clean, Dry all items before entering, Bookings may be needed for Aspiring and Insect-eating birds such as fantails/pīwakawaka, tomtits/ and when moving between, waterways. Liverpool huts (Dec – April). Check www.doc.govt.nz miromiro and riflemen/tītitipounamu thrive in beech for updated information. forest, and seed-eating parakeets/kākāriki are common in the red beech forest. In 2008, South Island robins/ Camping beside all huts incurs a nightly fee. Aspiring kakaruai were released into the valley to re-establish Hut has a designated camping area with a shelter the species in this area. Paradise shelducks/pūtakitaki and toilet – hut facilities are not available to campers. are a conspicuous and noisy feature of the river flats, Liverpool Hut has limited space for camping. Campers at and spur-winged plovers and oystercatchers/tōrea are other huts can use the hut facilities. common on farmland and along the drive from Wanaka Camping elsewhere within the park boundary is allowed in the summer. under the following conditions. • Camp at least 200 m away from tracks (this may be difficult in places due to steep slopes or thick bush) • Follow the Leave No Trace principles. This includes burying toilet waste well away from any water sources Heading up the valley. Photo: Nicole McCrossin or carrying it out. Matukituki valley. Photo: Nicole McCrossin r e The track enters the bush near Aspiring Hut. After 10 This route can be accessed from the Dart, Rees and West i v West Matukituki valley R r min, a bridge crosses Cascade Creek and a 1-km-long Matukituki valleys. For safety reasons it is recommended ¯ e v Note: All times and distances are one way unless section of bush emerges onto an open terrace leading to that trampers begin from the Matukituki side. If the a i t R Ruth Shovel Flat. From the head of Shovel Flat you will pass route is attempted in reverse (from the Dart valley), the h a otherwise stated. w Flat a ra through 400 m of bush before reaching Pearl Flat. pylon and orange-poled route MUST be located before A r a i p Raspberry Creek car park to descending into the Matukituki valley.