Haast Pass - Wanaka to Makarora

The scenery on this route is stunning. The Haast pass was an important route for ancient Maori.

Wanaka - Haast via Haast Pass, SH6; 140 km

The scenery on this route is stunning. Although this is the case whichever end you start at, we believe the most spectacular approach is from the Wanaka side. There are four basic DOC campsites with picnic tables, toilets and shelters along the Haast Highway. A small fee is charged.

The Haast Pass Highway heading west beyond the head of Lake Wanaka, started life as a pack track. The first construction work began in the 1880s and continued into the second half of the 20th Century. Around 400 men, suffering the extremes of heat, cold and rainfall, worked on the road during the 1930s Depression. The section to Haast was finished in 1960, but it took another 5 years to complete the link between Westland and Otago.

After leaving Wanaka, turn left onto SH6 and head for Lake Hawea and Haast. First you pass over the beautifully clear Clutha River at Albert Town. This village was the site of the earliest European settlement with the establishment of the Wanaka Sheep Station, and punts ferried people and stock across the water. It is now a favourite fly-fishing spot. After climbing the river terraces and skirting some low foothills above the Hawea River, the highway follows the shore of Lake Hawea with its rugged, tussock-covered hills and steep mountain backdrop.

When you cross the ‘Neck’, a narrow strip of land between lakes, you wind along the shore to the head of Lake Wanaka and part of the way up the morraine-filled valley to the tiny settlement of Makarora. On the river flats just before the town, it’s worth stopping to look up the Wilkin Valley (signposted), carved out by one of the largest tributary glaciers of the Wanaka system.

Mt Oblong is the prominent, slightly crooked mountain in the middle of the vista. At Makarora, the road enters magical rain forest of towering kahikatea and silver beech, matai and rimu. Make sure you allow time to experience the beauty of the area by going on the short, signposted walks that are scattered along the road. As you wander through the fern and leaf floor of the forests to turquoise pools and misty waterfalls, you can enjoy the songs of the native birds and see them dart from tree to tree.