Parking
Park at the Kepler Track Control Gates car park near Te Anau, reached via SH95 and Golf Course Road, then the short access road to the Control Gates.
Overview
About Luxmore Summit Track
Why go
- Mt Luxmore gives the Kepler's highest point and wide lake views
- Luxmore Cave is a worthwhile limestone detour near the hut
Heads up
- Long forest and shoreline approach before the alpine section
- Exposed tops can be windy, snowy, or icy outside summer
Choose this for a demanding full-day out-and-back to the highest point on the Kepler Track. It runs from the Control Gates to Mt Luxmore and back: about 20.8 miles (33.4 km) total, with the map line stored once along the 10.4-mile (16.7 km) one-way corridor. Allow 8 to 10 hours and expect roughly 1,270 m (4,170 ft) of climbing.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Fiordland map
Full mapElevation205–1,459 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 Luxmore Summit 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
- Te Anau: The Gateway to Fiordland
- Te Anau: Fiordland's Adventure Basecamp
- Te Anau's Living Galaxy
- Queens Reach: The River Anduin
- 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 Luxmore Summit Track
The route and the payoffStart at the Kepler Track Control Gates and follow the lakeshore before climbing through beech…
Start at the Kepler Track Control Gates and follow the lakeshore before climbing through beech forest to Luxmore Hut. The signed summit spur continues to Mt Luxmore at 1,472 m, the highest point on the Kepler Track. The limestone Luxmore Cave near the hut is a worthwhile detour if you bring a torch.
At the summit, include Lake Te Anau and the tussock ridge in your photos to give the landscape a sense of scale. Cloud and wind can change the view quickly.
What the effort meansThe route begins gently, then becomes a long, sustained climb.
The route begins gently, then becomes a long, sustained climb. Above the bushline, the track is exposed and the final summit spur is steeper, with uneven footing. This is not a casual lake walk, and pets are not allowed.
Alpine weather can change quickly. Snow and ice are possible outside Great Walks season, so treat the upper track as a serious mountain section rather than relying on the sunny conditions at the lake.
Make the long day workStart early with warm layers, waterproofs, enough food and water, and time to turn around if…
Start early with warm layers, waterproofs, enough food and water, and time to turn around if the tops deteriorate. Luxmore Hut is a meaningful shorter turnaround, but stopping there makes a different, shorter variant than the summit route described here.
A water taxi to Brod Bay changes the start point and distance, so do not use that option to judge the Control Gates mileage. Near the alpine sections, keep packs closed and unattended bags close: kea are clever at opening zips.
Is this the hike for you?That commitment suits strong hikers with a full day, good weather and the gear for an exposed…
That commitment suits strong hikers with a full day, good weather and the gear for an exposed alpine 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.
