Milford Track

Milford Track

Milford Track
5
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Great Walks season is October - April. Outside this period facilities are greatly reduced and there are additional safety hazards to consider. Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip. See website for the price of accommodation on this track.
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  • S K
    Wellington, New Zealand79 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A Great Walk
    We’re just off the Milford Track after four fantastic days. Yes, there was rain and wind - inconveniently on the McKinnon Pass crossing - but the rain just made the waterfalls better the next day. Ultimate Hikes run a slick operation: it seems quite casual, but it’s really highly choreographed. The lodges are comfortable and the wine and food is very good (and so much better than lugging the stuff in yourself)! The lodge crews are enthusiastic and capable. And it’s really great fun getting to know an interesting group of international travellers better night by night. The guides (ours were Michael, Caitlin, Scott and Maia) were just magnificent. Who’d want to stand out in a tempest at the top of McKinnon Pass handing out hot lemon tea to straggling walkers? Well, Caitlin did just that. These youngsters are soon off to find new jobs for the winter. Our group of 50 walkers would give them all a reference in a heartbeat. The sheer beauty of the scenery wins out in the end, but the competition it faced from other facets of the walk was as stiff as the wind at the top of the pass. If your legs are up to it, don’t miss it!
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 5 April 2024
  • Arcticozzie
    Perth, Australia121 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Just do it!
    This is an activity I've always dreamt of doing, finally in a position to be able to afford a family trip to NZ and the number one thing on the list for me was the Milford Track. We are a Family of 4, (2 Adults and a 13 and 15 year old), signed up with Ultimate Hikes getting the last spots available, which meant the kids had to pay the full adult price. Trip is amazing, views, organisation, accommodation, food, hard to fault. Booked in June for a New Years Day Departure. Weather was perfect, trip was 10/10
    Visited January 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 9 June 2024
  • kigrant
    Canberra, Australia29 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Surpassing beauty and awesome grandeur
    Milford Track has an eviable reputation. It lived up to that reputation and exceeded it in my experience. Every turn of the Track seemed to reveal new vistas of surpassing beauty and awesome grandeur. I said "Wow!" a LOT! The attached photos illustrate what I mean. If you have the chance to hike this Track... DO it! The Milford Track is challenging, but the way the track has been built and maintained makes it very doable, even for an overweight man in his 70's. The track surface is mostly wide and smooth. Boots are recommended as there are rocky and uneven sections. Switchbacks up the McKinnon Pass made climbing quite easy. Due to avalanche danger we used the alternate track into the Arthur Valley. This was rough with big drop offs and fallen trees, but was navigable, though we were exhausted at the end of the descent. Well done to DOC for the way this track has been kept!
    Visited November 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 9 December 2024
  • Chloe J
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE
    I will start by saying wow, what an incredible experience! There is an endless amount of waterfalls, streams, rivers, wildlife, mountains and beautiful trees. The huts are everything you need and the rangers are friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable. I’ll make a special mention about Mintaro Hut, it’s definitely a special treat in the middle of your adventure. The first two days are reasonably easy going. My partner and I were worried about the incline, however this was the easy part. We had to decline down the emergency track and this was tiring, so prepare for the decline. The track was easy to navigate and the paths were easy to follow so there is no chance of getting lost. Everyone goes on about the sandflies at the end, however I think we got lucky as we didn’t even see one! Overall this is an amazing experience and it should be on everyone’s bucket list!!
    Visited November 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 18 December 2024
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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles374 reviews
Excellent
334
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24
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7
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3
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6

meowmeowlam
Hong Kong, China217 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Friends
Milford track is on the bucket list of many people who enjoy hiking. I am one of those. And that’s why I decided to give myself a birthday present for hiking with two good friends at Milford Track by joining the ultimate hike.

Originally we planned for joining the ultimate hike instead of a cheaper way by booking the DOC huts ourselves is all because we do not want to carry too much for our hike. With Ultimate Hike, you can only bring one set of Clothings and some personal skincare items with you. As they will provide all transportation, food and drinks, dry room for you to dry your Clothings, clean towel, shampoo and body wash are in the bathroom, nice bedroom with blanket, heater and pillow. So, your backpack can be light as 5-7kg instead of bringing stove, sleeping bag, all food and drinks for 4 days walk...etc.

However, we met the unexpected heavy rain with storm and trapped in the lodge for over 50 hours.

With this crisis, the differences between booking DOC huts and Ultimate Hike are far bigger.

With Ultimate hike, food and drinks are supplied during our stay. The crew kept communicate with the HQ at Queenstown to get the most updated information, they are so transparent and organised to motivate the group. There are many kinds of board games, books and videos for you to kill time. Even after we are rescued by the team from Te Anau, the Ultimate Hike arranged accommodation to all 100+ participants, as well as tourist activities to them before finding the way to go back to Queenstown.

Up to now, you may already know the reasons for me to recommend Ultimate Hike for the guided walk on Milford Track to you:

1. They treat your safety as the top priority and they walk the talk.

2. They provide excellent customer experience even under a big crisis and under the acts of God.

3. They make your hike far much easier and organised

Although I cannot finish the hike and cross out the bucket list item this time, I will definitely come back and join Ultimate Hike again.

Highly recommend to you with my big applause to the great team.
Written 10 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FamGorgas
Munich, Germany9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Due to a challenging booking process (the Milford Track season was fully booked within minutes after opening the booking system) we did the Milford Track directly after arriving in New Zealand. Actually it helped us to overcome the Jet Lag (12 hours time difference to our home country) immediately. We did the track with our two girls (12 and 15 years) and they enjoyed it very much. Luckily we had no rain during the track but benefited from heavy rain before leading to many water falls and a fantastic nature. We did the independent walk and the hut rangers gave every evening relevant information during the "Hut Talk" (weather, nature, watch outs/ highlights for the next day). The huts itself are basic but provide a save accomodation and the necesary cooking facilities (gas-cookers, dish washing liquid). Exxpect many sand flies during the track, so prepare ourself with the necessary anti-sand-fly things.
Written 11 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Cheryl P
Christchurch, New Zealand14 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021 • Family
Milford Track is amazing. All the huts are great - no pots or plates so take your own but there is gas. DoC wardens are great so do listen carefully to what they say especially in regards to your safety. Tracks are great and poles make them even better. Expect rain…expect lots of rain.

What I would do differently next time - get a rainproof poncho that goes over me and bag (cover blown off up on pass, and over three rain filled days the packs got wet so more weight to carry). I would also take either a waterproof camera or a waterproof lanyard around my neck with my phone in it to take pictures. The extra food recommended by DoC was invaluable (we stayed an extra night on track due to high winds and track flooding). And if you wear glasses try contact lenses. And don’t forget your sandfly repellant.

What I would do the same… dehydrated my own main meals (but took store brought mashed potato). Having the car easy hike relocated made it easy at Milford Sound end and took the stress out of sorting all the boat rides. Going on a nature walk with DoC warden Ross helped my flora knowledge throughout. Being happy it rained because you see Milford Sounds in all her glory 😀
Written 25 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Matthias_Auckland
Brunnen4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Do the Milford Track, they said. It's the "finest walk in the world", they said.

Hardly ever in my life have I been more disappointed. I was partly disappointed in myself because I believed the hype about the track, but mostly because the Milford Track is just not worth the effort, the money nor the time.

Be aware: The Milford Track is located in one of the wettest places in the world. This alone should make you suspicious. The marketing people at DOC back in the day probably thought let's try and sell the wettest place in New Zealand by calling the Track the "finest in the world". Well, it should be called "wettest in the world". The problem is: You have to book so early in advance you never know what the weather will be like. Most likely it will pour down.

This means not only will you definitely get wet, you will get soaked, even if you have good gear. Because good rain gear will protect you from the rain, but you'll sweat because that gear won't let air out, so you'll get soaked from the inside (even if it's cold outside). And you can't dry your clothes or shoes, because the huts are not equiped for that. So be prepared to walk in wet shoes for three or four days. The DOC folks in Te Anau called the wetness "part of the fun". Yeah, good fun indeed for an hour, but certainly not for three days.

Another thing: You basically walk in a forest the entire time. All you see is bush and more bush with one or two clearings per day. It's nice bush, but after hours and hours in it it would be nice to see mountains or something else. And on the MacKinnon pass it probably rains so even there, where you're meant to have a beautiful view, you'll most likely see a wall of grey 50m in front of you. So if you're into views: Definitely don't do it. You'll be disappointed, no question.

Ah yes, have I mentioned the sandflies? As soon as you want to have a break, they attack you. So don't even think about having a peaceful lunch time break. You'll just want to eat your sandwich as quickly as possible and then carry on - screaming children for an entire night are more peaceful and enjoyable than that.

So no, never in my life would I recommend this walk. DOC does an awesome job at PR for a terrible track. I'm sure every time someone books it they laugh and say: "Look, we've sold the wettest and most overrated walk in the world to another idiot!" Don't buy it! There are dozens of walks alone in NZ that are nicer than the Milford, try them!
Written 10 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Patrick
Lucerne, Switzerland2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
There were already severe rain warnings (300 - 500 mm of rain within 2 days) announced days in advance starting in the afternoon on the first walking day by metservice.com.

Once arrived at the visitor center, the guy told me, that everything will be save and I just should take enough food for extra days with me. However; I might walk in and most likely, I won't be able to do the whole hike and walk back out. Which sounds reasonable, but gave already a bad taste.

Around 10am on the first hiking day, they sent out a e-mail, that the track is closed and I can't go. They haven't even tried to call.

My initial plan was to go over Dore Pass, therefore I would have ended up in the first hut without the information getting to me.
Furthermore you are standing there without an accommodation for the night.

It gives me the feeling, that it is all about the money and hope that the hikers are canceling it without getting a refund to get more on their bank account.

For that price, I would expect a more professional management and giving out information earlier, latest the evening before. And give the option of cancelling with severe weather conditions coming up.
Written 2 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Trmor
Melbourne, Australia8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
Totally lived up to it’s reputation as the World’s Most Beautiful hike.
I have hiked in Australia, Canada, Nepal, India and Thailand. This 4 day hike has the best that nature has to offer - rivers, lakes, forests, waterfalls and spectacular mountains.
The DOC huts were not luxurious but they were perfect for cooking, eating, sleeping and meeting other hikers.
I highly recommend packing insect repellent, ears plugs and a eye mask.
We are in our late 50’s. We trained for this hike.
Overall we found it generally easy except for the hike through the emergency track on the downhill from McKinnon’s Pass - that was tough!!
We were extremely lucky with the weather only a little rain on the second day.
The views throughout the hike were stunning, however McKinnon’s Pass was spectacular!!!!!!
I highly recommend taking your time on this track - some hikers seem to race through it and then spend a lot of the day at the huts. We were usually one of the last to leave a hut and the last to arrive. This meant we had at least 40 minutes on McKinnon’s Pass where there was no one else but us. That was sooooo special.
Written 20 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

expatbizzum
Wellington, New Zealand42 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Couples
So the first hut is a bit of a waste of time and it would be easy to make the second hut on day one. The trek is ok with one reasonable day of ascent over the pass. We didn’t get much of a view but it was a good walk none the less. We had to do the ‘emergency decent’ track on the far side of the pass due to rockfall dangers; it is tricky to find a rhythm due to the big steps required. Amazing rain on our last day which made the rock walls pour with water. We did a car relocation with EasyHike - great service and highly recommended.
Written 4 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jakeyoc
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
Great relocation system, easy to use lock boxes, so nice to have the car waiting at the other end.
So far the most stunning walk I have done (and I have done a lot) Incredible place. Don't be afraid of the rain We had the perfect amount, which was magic for all the waterfalls. Vista upon vista, Knowledgeable rangers, flora and fauna in every beautiful shade of green.
P.S Fiordland O,& Easyhike, great team.
Written 29 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jos
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2022
Deserves it status as a great walk of the world. It was outstanding from start to finish. It exceeded all expectations, especially the vegetation and waterfalls, pools and swimming holes. Easyhike provided seamless transport connections and were excellent to deal with.
Written 21 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kassie
Auckland, New Zealand37 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Did this independently, my first time on a multi-day hike! It was a magical experience. The hut rangers make you feel welcome and give you all the necessary information on weather, etc. The first night, we even got a crash course in plants. The scenery is fantastic, was extremely lucky to have good weather on Mackinnon Pass day with spectacular views. It's not too difficult even for someone who hasn't hiked multi-day before, though your feet are very worn out by the end. Overall one of my best memories!
Written 23 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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MILFORD TRACK (2025) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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