Te Araroa: Waiau Pass

Ryan King
Dec 12, 2025
3 min read

We just completed our fourth track of the Te Araroa. 115.5 km (72 miles) of trail through some of the most stunning landscapes I’ve ever seen.

We started our morning in St. Arnaud as we headed up to our first hut.

We had two options for which route to take to our first hut. One was more exposed and had the potential to be challenging in poor visibility conditions, but promised incredible views on a clear day. The other option was gentler and easier to follow but would have kept us in the forest for longer with fewer views of the mountains. The forecast called for potentially low visibility and we struggled to decide on the best route up.

As we reached the fork, a stranger asked where we were headed. When we told him our destination, without hesitation he said “you’ll want to go that way (the harder way)”. Sometimes hard decisions make themselves. We took his advice and we’re glad we did.

We climbed quickly from town and soon found ourselves in incredible mountain views. The wind was blowing so hard that we had to lean into it at a comical near-30° angle to keep from falling over. It was a good night to sleep in a solid structure.

The views from the hut didn’t suck.

We watched the sun set over the lake and hoped for lower winds the next morning. The forecast called for high winds again and rain in the morning so we bundled up and took the fastest route off of the mountain. This meant a steep descent into the valley but we quickly got to low enough elevation that the wind stopped whipping and we were blown away by the views instead. We lucked out with the rain staying away until we were on flatter, safer trail and were able to enjoy the waterfalls and sunbeams without getting soaked.

We spent the second half of the day walking through the rain to our next hut.

The next morning had us climbing over a saddle before the coffee had a chance to set in. Light rain and fog really set a moody tone and the morning was one of the many moments on this trip that we felt like we were walking into Mordor.

Images of misty mountains and waterfalls on all sides always drew me to New Zealand, and it was really special to spend the morning walking through a scene I’d only ever seen pictures of to this point.

We crested the saddle and had an equally steep descent into the valley below.

We took lunch at a hut away from the rain and sandflies and pushed on another 3 hours to our next camp. The views just kept coming.

We ate another few thousand feet of vertical climb for breakfast the next morning as we approached the climax of this section: Waiau Pass. We’d heard the pass has some of the best views in all of New Zealand and the stoke got higher with each step up.

Our first views of Lake Constance blew our minds. We took our time and about 100 pictures as we walked along the lakeside.

After passing the lake we had another gnarly climb to the top of the pass.

A lunch break was needed part-way up the climb. The views again did not suck.

Finally on top of the saddle. The views speak for themselves. This spot felt impossibly beautiful.

We crossed over the pass and began another brutal drop into the valley, down climbing with full packs. The camera had to go in the pack for most of this section until we got to calmer trail on the valley floor.