Parking
Park at the end of Lower Hollyford Road, the standard southern trailhead about two hours from Te Anau off Milford Road (State Highway 94). Public transport is limited; arrange the Martins Bay exit transfer before departure.
Overview
About Hollyford Track
The Hollyford Track is a 56 km (about 35 mile) point-to-point tramp from the end of Lower Hollyford Road through Fiordland National Park to Martins Bay Hut. The official track is a 4–8 day, low-altitude mountains-to-sea journey rather than a loop, so arrange transport out from Martins Bay before starting. The mapped route follows the Hollyford River/Whakatipu Kā Tuka, passes Hidden Falls Hut and Lake Alabaster/Wāwāhi Waka, then continues around Lake McKerrow/Whakatipu Waitai and the historic Jamestown area before reaching the coast.
Expect a remote tramping track with long rough, muddy, rocky, and sometimes poorly defined sections. Orange markers guide sections where the path is less obvious; unbridged streams and river crossings can become impassable after heavy rain. The route is suitable for people with a good level of fitness and careful backcountry planning, and Fiordland weather can turn wet and cold quickly.
The route is divided by DOC into Lower Hollyford Road to Hidden Falls Hut (9 km), Hidden Falls Hut to Lake Alabaster Hut (10.5 km), Lake Alabaster Hut to Demon Trail Hut (13.4 km), Demon Trail Hut to Hokuri Hut (9.6 km), and Hokuri Hut to Martins Bay Hut (13 km). The Lake Alabaster section backtracks from the hut to the Pyke River swing bridge before following the eastern side of Lake McKerrow. DOC huts and adjacent campsites are available along the route; carry a stove, use the required backcountry hut tickets or pass, and boil untreated hut water before drinking.
Why go
- Complete mountains-to-sea journey through Fiordland river, forest, lake, and coastal scenery
- Historic Jamestown area and a chain of DOC huts make the long route easy to stage
- Low-altitude route can be walked outside the alpine Great Walk season
Heads up
- Point-to-point route requires transport planning from Martins Bay
- Long remote sections are rough, muddy, and sometimes poorly defined
- Heavy rain can make unbridged streams and rivers impassable
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Fiordland Tour Guide
Your drive to Hollyford Track, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Fiordland National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Fiordland audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Hollyford Valley: Waterfalls and TrampingListen
“The road ahead leads down into the Hollyford Valley, the starting point for some incredible walks.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Fiordland Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Hollyford Fault: A Straight Story
- Moraine Creek: A Raw Fiordland Tramp
- Rātā and Kāmahi: Fiordland’s Flowering Forest
- Davey Gunn’s Run: Bush Pilots and the Hollyford Airstrip
- 126 audio storiesacross Fiordland’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, Fiordland Penguin, Blue Duck, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 68 trails, 124 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Wildlife
Wildlife in Fiordland
1,181 sightingsKeaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
199 sightingsFiordland PenguinMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
228 sightingsBlue DuckMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
32 sightingsBottlenose DolphinMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
247 sightingsNew Zealand Fur SealMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
58 sightingsKākāMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Fiordland. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
