Trails › New Zealand › West Coast › Polar Range
Edwards - Otehake Route
Next nearby hike: Mingha Track 4.3 mi · 6.9 kmExplore Polar Range →
Edwards - Otehake Route other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)
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NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0) · OpenStreetMap · Official page · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).
7-day forecast
Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)Best time to hike
No month meets all three rules below at this spot.
- J16°8°390
- F16°8°298
- M14°6°337
- A11°4°366
- M7°2°392
- J4°-1°413
- J3°-2°320
- A5°-1°361
- S7°1°448
- O10°2°507
- N12°4°413
- D14°7°470
Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.
How we pick months
Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.
About this trail
A transalpine route that mixes the best of east with the wilds of the west.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 20 km · 12 mi (DOC route geometry)
- Source
- NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0)
- Difficulty
- Very hard (9/10) (Expert · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0))
- Typical time (DOC)
- 2 - 3 days
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/22dd9c7ad1664be9b9a3c144a63
- Mountain range
- Polar Range (Main Divide of The Southern Alps › Southern Alps; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 14 km NE of Arthur’s Pass (Selwyn District, Canterbury) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Arthur's Pass National Park
- Connects to
- Lake Kaurapataka Route (at its start or end)
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- West Coast
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -42.8666, 171.6892
How it’s scored
Very hard (9/10). Official rating: Expert · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0).
A score is omitted when we do not have an official rating or enough measured length and elevation gain to compute one. Nothing is guessed. Read the NPS method: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/how-to-determine-hiking-difficulty.htm
Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.
Nearest trails
distance from the trail centreMingha Track
4.3 mi · 6.9 km · Conservation Area - Taramakau River / Ōtira River
Edwards - Hawdon Route
5.0 mi · 8.0 km · Arthur's Pass National Park
Lake Kaurapataka Route
6.0 mi · 9.6 km · Arthur's Pass National Park
Temple Basin
7 mi · 11 km · Arthur's Pass National Park
Mount Aicken
7 mi · 12 km · Canterbury
Hawdon Hut Track
8 mi · 12 km · Canterbury
All trails in West Coast → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →