Trails › Oceania › New Zealand › West Coast › Conservation Area - Wanganui / Otira Catchments
Whitcombe Pass Track
Whitcombe Pass 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
No month meets all three rules below at this spot.
- J18°11°256
- F18°11°201
- M16°9°241
- A13°7°238
- M10°4°252
- J7°1°276
- J6°0°219
- A7°1°239
- S9°3°281
- O11°5°302
- N14°7°253
- D16°9°319
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 Whitcombe Pass Track takes you through the very rugged bush clad valleys of the lower Hokitika and Whitcombe Rivers to the Main Divide. This guide describes the route from the Hokitika road end to Whitcombe Pass only.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 24 km · 15 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)
- 3-4 days to Whitcombe Pass
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/358b7b4d37ec433b9e4ca67b17e
- Nearest town
- 41 km S of Hokitika (Westland District, West Coast) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Conservation Area - Wanganui / Otira Catchments
- Connects to
- Toaroha, Hokitika, Lower Whitcombe Track (at its start or end)
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- West Coast
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -43.0787, 171.0270
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.
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