Mica Mine Tops 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.
- J12°6°525
- F13°7°396
- M11°5°551
- A9°3°437
- M6°1°506
- J4°-1°558
- J3°-2°411
- A4°-2°458
- S5°-1°552
- O7°1°584
- N9°2°527
- D10°4°694
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
The Mica Mine Tops Route is a challenging route within the rugged backcountry environment of South Westland.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 5.5 km · 3.4 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)
- 8 hr from SH6
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/1f1fae9354c94de2b95961b07be
- Mountain range
- Mataketake Range (Southern Alps; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 60 km SW of Waikowhai (Westland District, West Coast) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Conservation Area - Cook River/Weheka to Haast River
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- West Coast
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -43.8106, 169.3220
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 centreMoeraki Valley Track
1.7 mi · 2.8 km · Conservation Area - Cook River/Weheka to Haast River
Historic Haast to Paringa Cattle Track
4.1 mi · 6.6 km · Conservation Area - Cook River/Weheka to Haast River
Lower Moearki River Walk
7 mi · 12 km
Monro Beach Track
8 mi · 12 km
Kōkako Track
16 mi · 25 km · Conservation Area - Okuru-Waiatoto
Wills Valley Track
16 mi · 26 km · Mount Aspiring National Park
All trails in West Coast → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →