Rees-Dart Track

The first 12 km to the park boundary takes about four to five hours. It begins on a vehicle track, then marker poles lead across boggy ground beyond Arthurs Creek and onto open grassy flats beside the Rees River. This stretch crosses private Rees Valley Station land: stay on the formed route, leave gates as you find them and do not camp before the boundary. North of Lennox Falls, a side trip branches across the river into Kea Basin; it is optional and not part of the through-route.

From the boundary, allow another 7 km and two to three hours to Shelter Rock Hut. The marked path crosses to the west bank, winds through beech forest past Clarke Slip and emerges above the bushline into avalanche gullies before crossing back toward the 22-bunk hut.

The 10 km from Shelter Rock Hut to Dart Hut takes four to six hours. The narrow track sidles through scrub about 100 m above the Rees River, then enters a tussock-filled basin and climbs steeply to Rees Saddle at 1,471 m. The final approach is lightly marked. From the saddle, follow the orange markers past tarns to a high tussock bench above Snowy Creek; people have been injured after wandering off the marked line.

The traverse beyond the pass is steep and exposed, with drop-offs beside the path. Wet ground or snow makes it especially treacherous. The route crosses upper Snowy Creek, follows broken slopes down to the valley, then reaches Dart Hut by swing bridge.

From Dart Hut, the route continues 18 km (five to seven hours) to Daleys Flat Hut, then 16 km (five to seven hours) to Chinaman’s Flat car park. The last section starts on a well-formed trail, then becomes rough and uneven, climbing to a high viewpoint on Sandy Bluff. It passes through beech forest high above the Dart River, descends to Surveyors Flat, follows the river and climbs over Chinamans Bluff before easing out toward the car park. Stay on the track between Sandy Bluff and Daleys Flat: the lake and riverbed there contain quicksand.

Shelter Rock Hut has 22 bunks, Dart Hut 32 and Daleys Flat Hut 20; book hut stays in advance. There is no food to buy on the route, so carry all meals and enough extra in case high water delays you. Hut water is untreated and needs boiling or treatment. Camping is not allowed between Shelter Rock and Dart huts, and the first 12 km crosses private farmland where camping is also prohibited. Dogs are not allowed.

The Rees and Dart valleys form part of an ara tawhito, an ancestral travel route used by Ngāi Tahu between Whakatipu-wai-Māori and Whakatipu Waitai at Martins Bay. Pounamu was gathered and traded along the wider route, and archaeological finds include pounamu artefacts and evidence of seasonal settlements. In 1864, Patrick Caples crossed Rees Saddle in search of gold; he found little and retreated after days of snow.

Takahē were released in Rees Valley in 2025 and may be seen on the flats; give them space. Whio (blue duck) inhabit the faster upper rivers, and rock wren may be heard around Rees Saddle. The Dart’s broad valley and moraine walls tell a longer story: the glacier once reached far beyond Dart Hut, and its retreat has left a landscape of river flats, tussock basins and steep valley sides. At Rees Saddle, include the tarns and a little of the marked path in a photograph to show the scale of the pass.