Parking
Use the Hollyford Track road end on Hollyford Road. This section starts at Hidden Falls Hut, reached on the preceding Hollyford stage, so the road end is not the route start.
Overview
About Lake Alabaster Track
Why go
- A mostly low-elevation valley walk with a proper lakeside hut payoff
- Mossy forest, river flats, and Lake Alabaster views
Heads up
- Point-to-point logistics require a return or transport plan
- Mud, roots, crossings, and sandflies after wet weather
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Fiordland map
Full mapElevation20–161 m
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 Lake Alabaster 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 tourMore stories near here in the app
- Hollyford Valley: Waterfalls and Tramping
- The Hollyford Fault: A Straight Story
- Moraine Creek: A Raw Fiordland Tramp
- Rātā and Kāmahi: Fiordland’s Flowering Forest
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Lake Alabaster Track
A valley route to Lake AlabasterThis is a 7.5-mile point-to-point walk from Hidden Falls Hut to Lake Alabaster Hut.
This is a 7.5-mile point-to-point walk from Hidden Falls Hut to Lake Alabaster Hut. Allow 3 to 4 hours for the section, with time for the forest, river flats, and the lake at the end. Plan your onward travel before setting out: this trail does not return you to the road end.
What the track feels likeThe Hollyford stays low through mossy forest and open valley sections, with the track crossing…
The Hollyford stays low through mossy forest and open valley sections, with the track crossing small streams and swing bridges along the way. It is generally well formed, but wet weather brings mud, roots, and slippery footing. The reward is a long, quiet approach to Whakatipu Ka Tuku / Lake Alabaster, with steep Fiordland ranges closing in around the water.
The hut and the viewLake Alabaster Hut sits on the lake shore and makes a satisfying destination or overnight stop.
Lake Alabaster Hut sits on the lake shore and makes a satisfying destination or overnight stop. Look back across the water from the shore near the hut for the best chance of a mountain reflection when the surface is calm. Sandflies are part of the deal, especially around the hut and lakeshore, so keep repellent handy.
Make the walk workReach Hidden Falls Hut from the Hollyford Track road end on the preceding section; parking is…
Reach Hidden Falls Hut from the Hollyford Track road end on the preceding section; parking is at the road end, not at this route's start. Fiordland weather changes quickly, and there is no cell service on the track. If you continue beyond Lake Alabaster toward the Demon Trail, expect a much rougher and slower route than this valley section.
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.
