Parking
Start at the Lake Sylvan car park, about a 30-minute drive from Glenorchy.
Overview
About Lake Sylvan Track
Why go
- The tramline return adds a different way back, with old sleepers still visible.
Heads up
- The loop can be boggy and crosses a stream.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Mount Aspiring map
Full mapElevation375–434 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
1 active Mount Aspiring alert
- CautionRob Roy Track: stop at lower lookout during avalanche seasonFrom May through November, end your Rob Roy Track hike at the lower lookout; DOC strongly recommends against continuing to the upper lookout because the track crosses active avalanche paths.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Aspiring Tour Guide
Your drive to Lake Sylvan Track, narrated.
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 trailhead
Lake Sylvan and the Old Tramline0:00 / 0:24
“Lake Sylvan's access road is coming up, for a walk through red beech forest to a small lake. From the car park, allow about forty minutes each way to the viewing platform, with glimpses of Mount Earnslaw across the lake.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Sugar Behind the Soot
- Routeburn Shelter: Choose Your Walk
- A Forest Sponge Without Roots
- The Tree with Blue Pollen
- 80 audio storiesacross Mount Aspiring’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, Rockwren, Yellowhead, and 8 more
- Works offlinemaps, 50 trails, 52 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 Sylvan Track
The loop or the simple returnLake Sylvan Track is a forest walk from its car park to a lakeside viewing platform, with a…
Lake Sylvan Track is a forest walk from its car park to a lakeside viewing platform, with a second path for the return. The full tramline loop is about 6.5 km and takes roughly 1 hour 40 minutes. The platform is about 40 minutes one way; if you want a shorter outing, retrace the main track. I’d save the loop for drier ground: its return can be boggy and crosses a stream.
Bridge to Lake SylvanFrom the car park, cross a 42 m suspension bridge, then follow a well-defined track over old…
From the car park, cross a 42 m suspension bridge, then follow a well-defined track over old moraine river terraces beneath tall red beech. At the platform the lake opens out against the surrounding mountains, with glimpses of Mt Earnslaw / Pikirakatahi. It’s the clearest place to frame the water with the peaks behind it.
Follow the tramlineThe loop is the more interesting finish: it comes back along a 1920s tramline, with old timber…
The loop is the more interesting finish: it comes back along a 1920s tramline, with old timber sleepers still visible in places. Orange markers show the way. After heavy rain, skip this return and follow the main track back the way you came.
Keep an eye outNative robins, fantails and riflemen are the birds to watch for along the track.
Native robins, fantails and riflemen are the birds to watch for along the track. Brown trout and small native fish live in Lake Sylvan, though there’s no guarantee you’ll spot them from the platform.
Starting accessUse the Lake Sylvan car park, about a 30-minute drive from Glenorchy.
Use the Lake Sylvan car park, about a 30-minute drive from Glenorchy. Dogs are not allowed on this track.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Mount Aspiring
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.
