nelson lakes national park

What an amazing location. The scenery is breath taking. It is a long drive out there so pack a lunch/water etc and spend a half a day out there. Best time plan a the trip is when the summer peak season is over. You can fish and swim and there are some great walking tracks. Enjoy

This is one of NZ's lesser known National Parks. It's high (2000 ft asl at Park HQ) with two beautiful lakes, many walks, tracks, tramps and huts, great guy fishing, and memorable scenery. It's quiet, never crowded, and the only village St Arnaud has all facilities you need. Accommodation, food and petrol supplies, good dining at the Lodge, and a small but well run DOC vidicon information centre. There's a good water taxi service on Lake Rotoiti and dome locsl fishing guides. Day walks around St Arnaud explain the flora and fauna. A friendly welcome in a fairly remote part of the South Island.

Highlights were the Travers Saddle and Blue Lake. We were lucky to have excellent weather. Track from West Sabine to Sabine Hut was muddy and unmaintained with lots of tree fall. No wardens in huts - bring your own supply of toilet paper!

Lake Rotoiti is an easy way to get a great view without the hassle of hiking a long way with young kids. Its as simple as driving up to the lake side.

There are a few lakes you can visit in the Nelson Lakes National Park. We visited 2 of the largest ones. There are looped walks at these lakes ranging from 15 minutes to a few hours. On one of the mornings we arrived around 10:30 and there was still frost everywhere, a crisp morning. Everything was so still and peaceful. At the second lake we did 2 of the looped walks and these are worth doing as you get to see the lakes from all angles plus you see plenty of nature along the way. A wonderful spot and this is an area I hope to visit again.

This was a really nice, open campground with powered sites and good, clean amenities. We were the only ones here as it had snowed heavily during the day and St Arnaud was white. Overnight it snowed some more so we awoke to a beautiful winter wonderland. Lake Rotoiti and its lovely little jetty surrounded by tall mountains was the subject of some beautiful photos, we found it hard to leave the place. Book & pay at the Nelson Lakes visitor centre 2 mins away, we found the lady in there to be extrememely friendly and helpful.

We spent 3 days in Nelson Lakes NP, where we camped at Kerr Bay, and hiked to Angelus Hut (via Mt. Robert) and back in a day.The Kerr Bay campground is located along the shores of Lake Rotoiti and has nice, and varied amenities (large, equiped kitchen facilities; hot showers that you pay per use; laundry facilities) and a decent number of tent sites. Be warned... the sandflies here are some of the worst in all of NZ!!! The launch dock along the lakeshore is a nice place to hangout, get away from the sandflies and watch for eels - very cool!Now, most people tramp to Angelus Hut over the course of a couple days, but due to time constraints, we decided to make a single, one-day trip into Angelus Hut and back. The punchgut track is a steep, switchback-filled trail that gains a lot of elevation in quick order. Nonetheless, we made the summit of Mt Robert in 1 hour (the average hiker would probably take much longer) to a beautiful, clear, warm morning. From there, we followed the pole-marked ridge route and then branched off the track and scrambled to the top of Julius Summit (which provided us with great views), before the clouds rolled in. After that, we stuck to the marked route and arrived at Angelus Hut in a cloudy, foggy, reduced-visibility rain. After a short lunch break at the Hut, we left and began following the Speargrass Track back to the car park, effectively making a large, 1-way, loop hike.

Arriving in winter makes the view more perfect.. with ice at the top of the mountain and snowy at some area, it just made my day to visit here and take some pictures.. Playing with the snow.. Just a short visit on our way to Haast.. but it just perfect view..

We were given a tip about this place in a hostel before we left Wellington and we're glad we detoured our original planned route to visit. It's a bit of a trek out with some nice views on the way, once you get there though it's stunning. The lake opens up into beautiful snowy mountains! We had a couple of slices of bread going stale in our food box, so decided to feed it to the ducks - which got incredibly close they were actually intimidating! :)We walked onto the jetty and spotted a group of fish and eels which was a surprise! If you're in Nelson and you have a couple of hours to spare visit this place! And take a picnic for yourselves and save the crusts for the ducks!

We booked a 'bach' (more like a house!) for a long weekend at St Arnaud in early June. In between the busy summer and winter seasons there were still plenty of people around - fishers and tourists and day visitors from Nelson and Blenheim just over an hour away. The coolness of autumn had set in (the morning temp was a calm -3C & afternoon 15C), but snow was yet to arrive. The skies were crisp and clear blue, suitable for our two day walks: one the Mt Robert Loop with spectacular views up the Travers valley and over Lake Rotoiti - this was a persistent ascent up the well maintained Pinchgut to start with from the carpark, but then its a very rewarding down hill; Second the underrated 16km round trip to Red Hills Hut - aprt from the first 30min the rest is on a relatively gentle rising and good surfaced farm track. The Hut is spectacularly placed and a treat for lunch (note though there is no kitchen or heater/stove, but water and a toilet). The views on the track near the top, up and down the Wairau Valley, are equally as magic as Mt Robert. We also wanted to do the round-the-lake track but is long length (30km) and short days meant we forewent this, but will just have to come back. St Arnaud is a good base - coffee and food available at several places, even in this off season. The sandflies were pretty-well non-existent, while the call of bellbird was amazing. Look out for the VERY large longfin eels under the main Lake jetty. There is cellphone coverage (for the main providers) and a wifi hotspot at the store. In the words of Arnie... "We'll be back!".

We waited for fine weather and visited Nelson Lakes National Park. It was one of the highlights of 2 weeks in NZ.We asked the DOC office beside Lake Rotoiti for walk suggestions. The the walk around the lake was said to have limited views. However the walk up Pinchgut spur was suggested because of the views over the lake. It was suggested the walk also be extended around Mt Arthur and back to the start via Paddy's Track, which we did Our walking was much faster than the suggested time (5 hours); we weren't pushing it, but did walk steadily apart from the lunch stop. We completed the circuit in 2.5 hours including the lunch stop at Bushline hut and stopping a couple of times on the way up to admire the views.The tracks are very well sign posted, as well as having markers along the ridge. The Pinchgut Track zig-zags up the bare face of Mt Robert before entering a beech forest. The track then continues above the treeline. The climb is steep and unrelenting but the views are stunning.g I think it climbs 600 m. There is a shelter at the top. It was very windy and exposed above the treeline. I would not recommend this section of the walk in times of high winds or inclement weather.Towards the next hut, there are views along parts of the southern arm of Lake Rotoiti, before the descent back to the Mt Robert Rd. Paddy's Track is longer and crosses several scree filled gullies. It was still steep enough for us to feel the descent in our knees and quadriceps, but the views were still stunning.Suggestions:Pick a clear, still day.Wear sunscreen and sandfly repellant (we only noticed sandflies at the carpark).Carry clothing for cold, windy conditions. Must have jackets, beanies, warm tops.Carry water and food. The north face of Mt Robert is dry.Be prepared to turn around if conditions deteriorate.

really really spectacular lakes and mountain scenarythe 2 lakes we visited were lake rotoiti and lake rotoaroathe first had the best sceney with a lovely seating/picnic areabut watch out for the sand flies in the autumnreally helpful and informative rangerscolony of 25 kiwi on the opposite sideawesome

Another highlight of my 3 week New Zealand tour was the Mount Robert circuit from St Arnaud. 5-hour loop walk up, around and down this mountain. The first uphill section was called Pinchgut track for a good reason, but there are amazing views from the top across Lake Rotoiti and down to St Arnaud on the other side. Definitely recommended, but you need to be fit.

I spent 4 days in the Nelson Lakes National Park, camping either at West Bay or Kerr Bay campsite. I can definitely recommend visiting, even if it's only for a day. The two lakes are very pretty, Rotoiti is more commercial than Rotoroa but has got a greater variety of walks & tramps as well. I did the Mt. Roberts Circuit which is demanding, especially when it's hot but very rewarding. The next day I did the St. Arnaud Range Track, that was 3 hours steadily walking uphill but if you do it on a fine day, the views are suberb. On my last day I walked around the lake which was a good idea as well because you get to see valley at the back of the lake which offers a different landscape again. Sandflies get really bad at night so take repellant! I can especially recommend, if camping, staying at West Bay, good facilities, clean and even private camping spots. It's a good spot to stay for a couple of days to get away from it all :) When I visited, the lake was even warm enough for a dip after a day's hike so a very pleasurable experience!

I can imagine that on a sunny day this lake will look stunning. When we visited it was cloudy early morning so chilly too. However we got a very moody photo of the lake shouded by cloud and then had a pleasant walk around its crystal clear waters