Trails › New Zealand › Southland › Rakiura National Park
Freshwater Landing to Mason Bay
Next nearby hike: Rakiura - southern circuit 4.4 mi · 7.1 kmExplore Rakiura National Park →
Freshwater Landing to Mason Bay 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
Best months: Sep–May · highs 11–16 °C (52–61 °F)
- J16°11°148
- F16°11°111
- M15°10°136
- A13°9°136
- M11°8°156
- J9°6°142
- J9°6°130
- A10°6°115
- S11°7°131
- O12°8°143
- N14°9°120
- D15°10°130
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
Backcountry walk over flat tussock wetland and mānuka country to Mason Bay which has one of the most extensive inland dune systems in the Southern Hemisphere.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 10 km · 6 mi (DOC route geometry)
- Source
- NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0)
- Difficulty
- Hard (7/10) (Advanced · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0))
- Typical time (DOC)
- 4 hr one way
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/923197105f99436a9057ebfab20
- Nearest town
- 48 km SW of Bluff (Invercargill City, Southland) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Rakiura National Park
- Connects to
- North West Circuit Stewart Island/Rakiura (at its start or end)
- Best months
- Sep–May
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- Southland
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -46.8917, 167.8714
How it’s scored
Hard (7/10). Official rating: Advanced · 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 centreRakiura - southern circuit
4.4 mi · 7.1 km · Rakiura National Park
Rakiura - north west circuit
6 mi · 10 km · Southland
Rakiura Track
12 mi · 19 km · Southland
North West Circuit Stewart Island/Rakiura
12 mi · 20 km · Rakiura National Park
Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara walking tracks
12 mi · 20 km
Foveaux Walkway
29 mi · 46 km
All trails in Southland → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →