Campground · Mount Aspiring National Park
Backcountry tent camping beside a historic stone-walled hut.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Aspiring Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mount Aspiring 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 Mount Aspiring audio tourMore stories near here in the app
“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!!!!”
Guide
Aspiring Campsite is a designated backcountry tent area just outside Aspiring Hut in the upper West Matukituki Valley. From Raspberry Creek car park, it is a 9 km walk of about 2 to 2.5 hours each way, so plan for an overnight trip rather than a drive-up campground. Book ahead; no walk-in spaces are held. Campers can use the hut's toilets and open-sided shelter, but not its other facilities.
Raspberry Creek car park is 54 km west of Wānaka. The last 30 km of road are gravel, and several fords cross the final 10 km. They can be impassable after heavy rain; after 24 hours with little or no rain, they're usually passable for 2WD vehicles, including campervans. Check conditions before you drive in.
The track crosses private land. Keep to the marked route, respect livestock and leave gates as you find them. Camping isn't allowed until you reach the conservation boundary, and dogs aren't allowed at the site.
The campsite sits beside the historic, stone-walled Aspiring Hut, owned and maintained by the New Zealand Alpine Club. On the walk in, the West Matukituki Track follows the river through open farmland, native forest and grassy flats. A couple of small bluffs open views up and down the valley, with glacier views along the route.
Wildlife
60 sightingsKeaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
112 sightingsRockwrenMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
26 sightingsYellowheadMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
13 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
27 sightingsBellbirdMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
35 sightingsRiflemanMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mount Aspiring. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingCascade Saddle Route25 km · 12.5 hr · 7.6 km awayAn expert alpine crossing above the Dart Glacier.
ModerateRob Roy Track10 km · 4.5 hr · 7.7 km awayA swingbridge, beech forest and glacier views reward the climb.
ChallengingLiverpool Track30 km · 13 hr · 7.7 km awayA long, exposed climb to a hut above Matukituki Valley.
ChallengingFrench Ridge Track32.4 km · 13.5 hr · 7.7 km awayClimb from grassy valley flats to a hut above the alpine bushline.
ModerateAspiring Hut Track18 km · 4.5 hr · 7.7 km awayLong valley flats lead to a hut beneath the Southern Alps.
ChallengingWest Matukituki Track34.4 km · 11.5 hr · 7.7 km awayA long out-and-back into the upper West Matukituki Valley.
ChallengingShotover Saddle Route16 km · 9 hr · 7.7 km awayA steep, rough climb to a tarn shelf above the West Matukituki.
Lodging · 0.1 km awayAspiring HutA historic stone hut reached by a two-hour valley walk.
Lodging · 5 km awayLiverpool HutA red alpine hut earned by a steep, exposed climb.
Sight · 5.4 km awayRob Roy GlacierA glacier view worth a long walk and a rough drive.
Lodging · 5.9 km awayFrench Ridge HutA high alpine hut for serious Mount Aspiring climbs.Parkwolf’s Mount Aspiring ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
