Bob's Cove Track and Nature Walk
- Duration: 20 minutes one-way walking, 10 minutes by bike.
- Best time to go: Year-round, check conditions before you depart.
- Start/Finish: Bob's Cove car park on Queenstown-Glenorchy Road
- Difficulty: Easy
- Bike-friendly: Yes
Bob's Cove is a turquoise-toned inlet of Lake Whakatipu, and in just an hour you can take in some of this beautiful part of the lake.
Starting at the Bob's Cove car park on Queenstown-Glenorchy Road (14km from Queenstown), take the trail down through native bush to Bob's Cove, keeping an eye out for the remnants of schist retaining walls, and an ear out for the call of kerurū, tui and bellbirds feasting on the nectar of native kōwhai flowers.
Lake Dispute Track
- Duration: 1.5 hours return
- Best time to go: Year-round, check conditions before you leave.
- Start/Finish: There’s a small car park on the Queenstown-Glenorchy Road, 10.5km south of Queenstown.
- Difficulty: Average
- Bike-friendly: Yes, intermediate/advanced riding.
The track zigzags up through pittosporum shrubland to Lake Dispute - a high country lake that is a popular fishing spot – brown, brook and splake trout can all be caught here.
At the southern end of the lake, there is a link to the Mt Crichton Loop Track - allow 40 minutes. Cross the weir, follow the lakeshore to the fence line, and then up to the ridge.
The track continues along the lake and connects with the Lake Dispute to Moke Lake Track.
Devil’s Creek Track
- Time: 5-6 hours return
- Location: Coronet Peak
- Best time to go: Summer months
- Start/Finish: Coronet Peak Road or Skippers Saddle
- Difficulty: Average
- Bike-friendly: Yes, difficult.
The reward for tackling this track is the fantastic views of the Whakatipu Basin. Starting gently on tussocky grassland, the trail becomes steeper towards the saddle on this journey across both conservation and private land.
Don’t look back as you head beyond the saddle, where the track goes through bluffs then into Devils Creek and stands of grey shrublands.
If mountain biking: it is a steep trail up to Mt Dewar, then a descent to Devil's Creek. The climb out of Devil's Creek is steep and technical.
Jack’s Point Trail
- Duration: 4 hours
- Best time to go: Year-round, check conditions before you leave.
- Start/Finish: Jack’s Point Clubhouse, or Jardine Park on the Kelvin Peninsula.
- Difficulty: Average
- Bike-friendly: Yes, advanced in parts.
Enjoy views of Lake Whakatipu on the Jack's Point Track in one direction and the stark Remarkables mountain range in the other. This trail flows through undulating open grassland, with some tight corners and steep pitches for good measure. There’s the option to stop off at the Jack’s Point Clubhouse either halfway or at the end, depending on where you started.
Lake Alta Track
- Duration: 1.5 hours return
- Best time to go: Summer months from November after the ski area has closed. In winter with appropriate snow gear (skins or snowshoes) only.
- Start/Finish: The Remarkables Ski Area base, via the Remarkables Ski Area access road. South of the Kawarau River on the eastern side of Lake Whakatipu, turn off SH 6 at the signposted junction to the Remarkables ski area.
- Difficulty: Advanced, tramping track
- Bike-friendly: No
Located in Remarkables Conservation Area in the Otago region the climb to the glacial (by both definition and temperature!) Lake Alta will give you a perspective of the Remarkables Ski Area outside of the ski season.
It begins on the road behind the skifield buildings and follows a road to the top of the Alta Chairlift. From there, cairns and flagstones mark the way through alpine wetlands, up to the picturesque lake framed by the mountain’s jagged peaks.