Welcome Flat Hot Pools

Welcome Flat Hot Pools are natural soaking pools a short stroll from Welcome Flat Hut in the upper Copland Valley. On a clear day, the Sierra Range rises above the water. This is a special reward, but it takes a real backcountry tramp to get here: 18 km each way and about seven hours one way from the road end. Keep it high on your list if you are walking Copland Track; if you only want a quick soak, this is not the stop.

Copland Track starts from SH6 about 26 km south of Fox Glacier. After the signed turnoff, it is about 150 m down a gravel road to the car park. The track is rated intermediate, but it is a long, uneven day: rocky riverbed boulder-hopping alternates with forest track and grassy clearings, with bridged and unbridged stream crossings. Plan to stay overnight at Welcome Flat Hut rather than treating the pools as a short excursion. Heavy rain can close the track at short notice, and streams can flood. Check current track conditions before leaving and do not start if Rough Creek is rising or flooded.

The 31-bunk serviced Welcome Flat Hut is beside the pools and needs to be booked. It has mattresses, heating and a non-flush toilet. The tap water is untreated and must be boiled. Bring what you need for an overnight stay, and allow room for a delay if heavy rain affects the route.

Keep your head above the water: the Department of Conservation warns of amoebic meningitis risk. Do not use soap or shampoo, and do not dig extra pools. The springs are a fragile part of this backcountry setting.

Track workers found the hot pools while building Copland Track. Construction ran from about 1901 to 1913, as part of a proposed tourist route linking the West Coast with The Hermitage at Aoraki/Mount Cook. The early route was a rough bush track, later widened into a pack track; rain, floods, erosion and landslides repeatedly interrupted the work. The pools helped make the Copland Valley one of the area's early visitor attractions.

Southern rātā dominates much of the valley forest, and its red flowers brighten summer. Higher up, tree daisies and dracophyllum give way to alpine grassland and native herbs. Possum control has been carried out here since the 1980s and has helped keep the forest healthier than in nearby valleys. Look and listen around Welcome Flat for kea, fantails, tūī and bellbirds; sightings are never guaranteed.

At the pool edge, include the mineral-coloured rim low in the frame and the Sierra Range above it; that shows both the spring and its setting. If you stay overnight, some visitors also enjoy a soak after dark beneath the stars, when the sky is clear.