Welcome Flat Hot Pools

The Welcome Flat pools sit at the head of the Copland Valley beneath the Sierra Range, a set of natural hot pools of varying temperature terraced above a creek, with the peaks directly above them - which is why photographs of people sitting in them at dusk with snow on the mountains circulate so widely. Getting there is seventeen kilometres and six to seven hours of walking from the highway, gaining altitude gradually up a valley with several side streams and, critically, unbridged creek crossings that become impassable after rain. That is the main hazard: parties get stuck at either end when the weather turns, and the valley floods fast. Welcome Flat Hut is a large DOC hut that must be booked, and it fills in summer. The pools themselves are unmanaged, variable in temperature and contain the same amoeba risk as other natural hot water, so keeping your head out is the standing advice.

What you actually see

• The terraced pools - natural hot water beneath the Sierra Range.
• The Copland Valley - seventeen kilometres of river-flat walking.
• Welcome Flat Hut - the booked overnight base beside the pools.
• The peaks - the range standing directly above the water.

When to go

November to April. Book the hut well ahead. Check the forecast and river levels - unbridged crossings become impassable after rain and parties get stranded.

Honest expectations

This is a genuine two-day tramp with river crossings, not a soak you can drive to. Keep your head above the water - untreated geothermal water carries a rare but usually fatal amoeba. Sandflies at the flat are severe.

Nearby

Fox Glacier is north; the Haast Pass road runs south.