New Short Walks and Day Hikes in New Zealand

Cape Foulwind Walkway Get your hiking shoes on. New Zealand's profile as a walking and hiking destination has been amplified with two new networks of walking tracks known as short walks and day hikes. Alongside New Zealand's highly popular Great Walks network of nine multi-day trails (soon to become 10), these 14 short walks and 5 day hikes provide a great new (and complementary) offering for walkers looking for shorter, more manageable experiences.

The tracks were chosen for their beauty and variety of environments, as well as for their accessibility and good visitor facilities. Short walks (30 minutes to three hours) will appeal to those with more compact itineraries. The day hikes (three to eight hours) will encourage visitors to stay longer in a region without the need to commit to a more full-on, multi-day trail experience. The tracks are all part of New Zealand’s extensive conservation estate – more than 30% of the land area – which includes 14,000 km of tracks, all administered by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Each walk was assessed by the DOC as being able to accommodate increased visitor numbers. Potential biodiversity, biosecurity and cultural impacts from increased numbers of walkers were also considered.

Short walks (30 minutes to three hours)

• Mt. Manaia, Northland
• Mangawhai Cliff, Northland
• Rangitoto Summit, Auckland
• Cathedral Cove, Coromandel
• Wainui Falls, Golden Bay
• Charming Creek, West Coast
• Cape Foulwind, West Coast
• Devils Punchbowl, Arthur's Pass
• Kura Tawhiti, Canterbury
• Lake Matheson, West Coast
• Fox Glacier, West Coast
• Tasman Glacier View, Mt. Cook
• Blue Pools, Haast Pass
• Lake Gunn, Fiordland

Lake Matheson Walk

Charming Creek Walk

Day hikes (three to eight hours)

• Te Whara – Bream Head, Northland
• Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay
• Tongariro Alpine Crossing, Ruapehu
• Hooker Valley, Aoraki Mount Cook National Park
• Roys Peak, Wanaka

For details on each of the short walks and day hikes, please visit: Guide to New Zealand Short Walks and Day Hikes Photos courtesy of: Tourism New Zealand Te Whara – Bream Head

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