Scotts Track to Avalanche Peak

Scotts Track to Avalanche Peak is a same-way return from Punchbowl car park to the 1,833 m summit: about 4.4 mi (7.1 km) round trip, following the ridge back down. Start at the signed access and cross SH73 only at the marked crossing; the highway shoulder is unsafe. Allow a full day. DOC gives 1 hour 30 minutes to bushline, then another 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours from bushline to the summit each way; its walks map estimates 6–8 hours return. Total distance is not published consistently, so take 4.4 mi as an approximate mapped distance. This is the standalone Scotts return, not the Avalanche Peak circuit that descends by another ridge.

The lower track climbs in zigzags through forest, with more shelter than the open route above. About ten minutes up, there's a view of Punchbowl Falls, a good pause before the longer climb. The bushline arrives around 1,300 m after roughly 1.5 hours. It's a natural turnaround if the summit, time, or weather isn't right. Views open north to Arthur's Pass and the Kelly Range, east to Mounts Cassidy and O'Malley, and south to Black Range.

Past the trees, the marked track becomes a steep, exposed alpine route across tussock ridges. Follow the orange poles toward the summit; the slope drops sharply toward McGrath Creek, and DOC warns that losing the marked line here is dangerous. Near the top, the orange route meets the yellow Avalanche Peak Track for the final ten minutes. Both then cross a narrow ridge with steep bluffs on either side.

The 1,833 m summit is the payoff: Southern Alps peaks, Crow Glacier to the north, and the Waimakariri River below. For a phone photo, include the ridge you crossed with the valley beyond; it gives the view a sense of scale. You don't have to reach the top to get a good walk; the bushline has broad views and a shorter return.

DOC rates the lower section an Advanced tramping track and the upper route Expert. It is a long, steep climb for its distance, then open and exposed. Summer and autumn are the usual best seasons. Avalanche risk is common from May through November and can persist while snow remains; wind, poor visibility, ice, snow, and rockfall also make the upper ridge serious terrain. Turn back before the narrow summit ridge if conditions are unsafe. Dogs are not allowed.

Ngāi Tahu used Arthur's Pass well before Arthur Dudley Dobson's 1864 European discovery, and the village began as a road-building camp. Avalanche Peak is the park's only summit with a poled route, which is why the orange markers matter once you leave the forest.