Parking
At the end of Kerr Bay Road in St Arnaud, use the car park near the east jetty.
Overview
About Bellbird Walk
Why go
- A wheelchair-standard path with interpretation panels in a short visit.
- Red beech, native birds and a small wetland on one compact loop.
Heads up
- Very short; the 15-minute visit includes time at the panels.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Nelson Lakes map
Full mapElevation625–633 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Nelson Lakes alerts
- ClosureRotoroa Route permanently closedThe Rotoroa Route is permanently closed along the eastern side of Lake Rotoroa between Rotoroa village and Sabine Hut.Official details
- CautionUnbridged stream between Sabine and D’Urville hutsThe bridge on the track between Sabine Hut and D’Urville Hut has been removed; trampers must cross an unbridged stream at GR E1571366 N5359831.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Nelson Lakes Tour Guide
Your drive to Bellbird Walk, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Nelson Lakes 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.
Recorded for this trailhead
Kerr Bay and Lake Rotoiti0:00 / 0:27
“You're approaching Kerr Bay, an easy place to get down to Lake Rotoiti without taking on a hike.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Nelson Lakes Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Nelson Lakes Visitor Centre
- St Arnaud: Food and Village Stops
- Lodge Road and Black Hill Walk
- Teetotal Campsite and Duck Pond
- 26 audio storiesacross Nelson Lakes’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor New Zealand Falcon, Weka, Kererū, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 57 trails, 47 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 Bellbird Walk
A short, easy loopBellbird Walk is an about 400 m loop from the car park by Kerr Bay’s east jetty, through…
Bellbird Walk is an about 400 m loop from the car park by Kerr Bay’s east jetty, through sheltered red beech forest and a small wetland. It is a wheelchair-standard track; allow about 15 minutes if you stop to read the interpretation panels. The walking itself takes about five minutes. I’d choose it for an easy introduction to the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project, or follow the Honeydew Walk branch if you want a longer outing. Dogs are not allowed.
The beech forestLarge red beech trees shade this sheltered corner and draw nectar-feeding tūī and bellbirds.
Large red beech trees shade this sheltered corner and draw nectar-feeding tūī and bellbirds. Listen for their calls; pīwakawaka, tomtits and robins are among the insect-eating forest birds you may spot. Deciduous tree fuchsia grows in a few places, though possums browse it heavily across much of the forest.
A wetland with a recovery storyThe path returns through a small wetland of sedges, rushes, ferns and mosses, growing in…
The path returns through a small wetland of sedges, rushes, ferns and mosses, growing in hollows left as glaciers receded. The area is part of one of New Zealand’s mainland-island recovery projects, where pest control has helped native species recover. Take time with the panels: the loop is short, but they explain what the restoration is doing.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Nelson Lakes
20 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
39 sightingsWekaMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
11 sightingsKererūMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
55 sightingsBlack SwanMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
23 sightingsParadise ShelduckMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
17 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Nelson Lakes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
