Sight · Mount Aspiring National Park
A short beech-forest climb to a platform above Cameron Creek.
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 tourRecorded for this place
Cameron Lookout: Turn Around at the Platform“Ahead is Cameron Lookout car park, for a short climb through silver beech forest.”
Plays as you drive up to Cameron Lookout in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.
More 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
Cameron Lookout is a 28-metre viewing platform above Cameron Creek, reached by a 1 km return walk from a roadside car park on SH6, about 70 km north of Wānaka. The climb gains about 50 m and takes roughly 20 minutes round trip, making it a short leg-stretcher rather than a separate hike.
From the platform, Cameron Creek runs below the lookout and the view opens down the Makarora Valley toward Mount Birnam and the surrounding peaks. For a photo, keep the creek and pale gravel bars in the lower frame with the forested valley sides above; that gives the valley some scale.
The easy, sealed path passes through kāmahi and silver beech to the platform. It is a small commitment compared with the rougher backcountry route that continues beyond the lookout.
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
ChallengingCameron Track to Cameron Hut14 km · 11 hr · 0.4 km awaySteep gorge bluffs lead to a remote four-bunk hut.
EasyCameron Lookout Walk1 km · 20 min · 0.4 km awayShort climb through silver beech to a Cameron Creek lookout.
ChallengingBlue Valley Track to Camp Flat5 km · 5 hr · 1.5 km awaySteep beech forest opens at a grassy camp beside the Blue River.
ModerateYoung River Link Track14 km · 3.5 hr · 1.6 km awayA longer Blue Pools walk to the Young River mouth.
EasyBlue Pools Track3.2 km · 1.5 hr · 1.6 km awayTwo swingbridges make this easy walk feel like an adventure.
ChallengingMakarora Track to Makarora Hut21 km · 14 hr · 2.6 km awayA rough valley tramp to a four-bunk hut beneath Mount Brewster.
ChallengingYoung River Track to Young Hut32.5 km · 13 hr · 5.8 km awayA remote hut trek with a dangerous river crossing and unstable slips
ModerateHaast Pass Lookout Track1.5 km · 1 hr · 6.8 km awayA short climb to a timber-railed Southern Alps lookout.
Campground · 1.6 km awayCameron Flat CampsiteA simple campsite opposite the Blue Pools track.
Sight · 2.9 km awayBlue PoolsTwo swing bridges lead to blue water, when the weather cooperates.
Lodging · 4.7 km awayCameron HutA four-bunk hut beyond a steep gorge and unbridged river.Sight · 6.8 km awayHaast Pass LookoutA steep climb buys a higher view over Haast Pass.Parkwolf’s Mount Aspiring ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
