Parking
Start at the Pleasant Flat Campsite car park, reached by sealed access from State Highway 6 about 45 km east of Haast. The walk starts within the campsite rather than at a separate trailhead.
Overview
About Pleasant Flat Walk
Why go
- An easy five-minute stretch beside a mountain stream
Heads up
- Very short, with no mapped turnaround
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Mount Aspiring map
Full mapElevation109–110 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 Pleasant Flat Walk, 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
Pleasant Flat: A Picnic and a Stream Walk0:00 / 0:28
“Pleasant Flat is coming up, an open grassy campground and picnic stop with views toward Mount Hooker. If you want a break from the waterfall stops, this is a place to eat your picnic and stretch your legs.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Red in the Forest Canopy
- Cameron's Powder Flask
- Thunder Creek Falls
- Gates of Haast: Rapids Beneath the Bridge
- 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 Pleasant Flat Walk
A quick streamside walkPleasant Flat Walk is an easy 200 m out-and-back, about 5 minutes return, from the Pleasant…
Pleasant Flat Walk is an easy 200 m out-and-back, about 5 minutes return, from the Pleasant Flat Campsite car park. It follows a short bush path beside a mountain stream. This is a pleasant leg-stretch while camping or picnicking at Pleasant Flat, not a hike to plan a day around.
Follow the short pathWalk beside the stream and retrace your steps.
Walk beside the stream and retrace your steps. The visitor map marks the walk but doesn’t draw its line or show where it turns around. The best-matched footpath is about 90 m one way, close to half the published return distance, so treat its endpoint as approximate.
At Pleasant FlatThe walk starts inside a DOC camping and picnic area with 22 tent sites.
The walk starts inside a DOC camping and picnic area with 22 tent sites. Mount Hooker views are noted from the campsite, though no separate viewpoint is identified on this very short walk. The access is sealed from State Highway 6, about 45 km east of Haast. Dogs and other pets aren’t allowed in national parks.
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.
