Kepler Track

The Kepler is unusual among the Great Walks in being purpose-built - it opened in 1988, designed and cut specifically to spread walkers away from the overloaded Milford and Routeburn - and it is a loop, which solves the transport problem that dogs the others: you start and finish within walking distance of Te Anau. Sixty kilometres over three or four days, with the second day the memorable one: a long traverse along the Mount Luxmore ridge above the bushline with Lake Te Anau on one side, the Murchison Mountains on the other and Fiordland spreading out in every direction. Luxmore Hut sits near a limestone cave system that can be entered a short way with a torch. Below the ridge the track drops into beech forest and river flats. The ridge section is fully exposed and is the part that turns back walkers in bad weather; in winter it becomes an alpine route.

History

Alf Excell and Les Henderson of the Fiordland National Park Board proposed an "Around the Mountain Walk" for the National Parks Centennial, and much of it, with the Iris Burn and Mount Luxmore huts, was built in 1986-87 by expeditions of Operation Raleigh. It opened as a Great Walk in February 1988 to ease the pressure on the Milford and Routeburn tracks; the surveyor James McKerrow had named the range after the astronomer Johannes Kepler (Wikipedia, Kepler Track).

What's there

• The Luxmore ridge - a long high traverse above the bushline.
• Luxmore Cave - limestone passages near the hut, torch required.
• Lake Te Anau - below on one side for most of the ridge.
• The loop - starting and finishing at Te Anau, no shuttle needed.

When to go

Late October to April. Book huts as soon as bookings open. The ridge day needs settled weather - check the forecast at Te Anau before starting day two.

Practical notes

The ridge is fully exposed with no shelter and is where people get caught out. Huts book out early. Outside the Great Walk season it is an alpine route with avalanche risk. Sandflies at the lower huts.

Nearby

Te Anau is at the trailhead; Milford Sound and the Routeburn are north.

Key facts