South Face Track 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: Oct–Apr · highs 11–18 °C (52–64 °F)
- J18°9°103
- F18°9°95
- M16°7°110
- A13°4°96
- M9°1°115
- J5°-2°107
- J4°-3°118
- A6°-2°121
- S9°0°110
- O11°2°132
- N14°5°106
- D16°7°117
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 is a challenging day walk across the south face of Mount Somers, from Woolshed Creek car park to Sharplin Falls car park.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 8.6 km · 5.3 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)
- 7 hr
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/e5d6d0394a204326b0b7ffa8e0a
- Mountain range
- Mount Somers Range (Inland Southern Alps › Southern Alps; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 25 km W of Methven (Ashburton District, Canterbury) · GeoNames
- Connects to
- Mount Somers Track, Track to Woolshed Creek Hut (at its start or end)
- Best months
- Oct–Apr
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- Canterbury
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -43.6356, 171.3340
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 centreTrack to Woolshed Creek Hut
2.0 mi · 3.3 km · Hakatere Conservation Park
Mount Somers Track
2.7 mi · 4.3 km · Mount Somers Conservation Area
Stour Track
3.0 mi · 4.9 km · Hakatere Conservation Area
Mount Barrosa Track
5.8 mi · 9.3 km · Canterbury
Mt Alford Track
8 mi · 13 km · Canterbury
Manuka Hut Track
9 mi · 15 km · Hakatere Conservation Park
All trails in Canterbury → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →