Trails › New Zealand › Southland › Darran Mountains

Moraine Creek Route

In the Darran Mountains

Trail3.1 km · 1.9 miVery hard · 9/10

Next nearby hike: Deadmans Track 3.8 mi · 6.1 kmExplore Darran Mountains →

Fiordland National ParkFiordland National ParkRouteburn Track · Fiordland National ParkDeadmans Track · Fiordland National ParkGertrude Saddle Route · Fiordland National ParkEndStart5 kmN ↑

Moraine Creek Route other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)

Get directions · Google MapsApple Maps

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.

  1. J18°10°459
  2. F18°10°292
  3. M16°8°397
  4. A13°6°357
  5. M9°3°404
  6. J5°0°359
  7. J4°-1°305
  8. A6°0°324
  9. S8°2°392
  10. O10°3°438
  11. N14°6°359
  12. D16°8°480

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

This challenging tramping route leads up the Moraine Creek from the Hollyford Road to beautiful Lake Adelaide in an impressive glacial basin.

NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).

Trail facts

Length
3.1 km · 1.9 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)
7-9 hr to lake, 9-11 hr to bivvy rock
Official page
doc.govt.nz/link/6dfee911d02042039ebc820dd2c
Mountain range
Darran Mountains (GMBA)
Nearest town
55 km NW of Arthurs Point (Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago) · GeoNames
Park or forest
Fiordland National Park
Country
New Zealand
Region
Southland
Continent
Oceania
Route centre
-44.7026, 168.1000
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 centre

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