Lake Mackenzie Hut : A Snowy Paradise

Lake Mackenzie hut is found along the Routeburn track. Looking out at a picturesque alpine lake, and mountainous landscape. There is lots to explore without committing to the whole Routeburn and saving you some dolla at the same time.

We stayed the night at Lake Mackenzie hut in October, only a couple of weeks before the Great Walk Season begins. We had the whole track to ourselves besides some HUGEE waterfalls.

Track Time: 7 - 8 hours Return Distance : 24km Return Difficulty : Easy to Moderate

This is our first time hiking in the Fiordland or on any Great Walk. We opted to just visit Mackenzie Lake this time, and during the summer months complete the rest of the track with our tent. I Knew that I wanted to stay at Lake Mackenzie Hut soon after finding a blog post about it, and being determined to visit it before the season started. We headed out with an average forecast.

We left home early Saturday morning for the 4 hour drive to The Divide, with severe wind and rain warnings still not lifted from the night before and a potential road closure we were hoping for the best.

The Track We started around midday, and passed quite a few day hikers heading up to Key Summit, a 3 hour return from The Divide, I did have this side trip in mind but due to the lack of visibility I decided to save it for another time. The trail gets straight into the switchbacks, but after these the track is fairly straightforward and level.

After what seemed like a fast 45 minutes we made it to Lake Howden where we stopped to eat some lunch, and peruse around. There is a firewood shed and shelter here, as the previous hut was damaged by a landslide.

Carrying on from Lake Howden, you will pass many waterfalls and come across a destroyed part of the track from a landslide. In it's place there is a short but steep bypass taking you up and around this part of the track.

After 2 hours moving, we could hear the thundering sound of Earland Falls from the distance. Now, I had done my research and seen lots of pictures of this waterfall and none of them could have prepared me for the amazement that shot through us as we arrived at the base of the waterfall. Due to the rainfall the night before, the water was coming down at an immense force.

We took the flood detour after staring at it for quite a long time. As it was totally impassable, the route took us under the rocky base and provided a little protection but we still got pretty wet and moved as fast as we could.

Jai claims Earland Falls on this day, was the best and most thrilling thing he has ever seen.

If you can't tell we're big waterfall fanatics.

We reluctantly moved on and after another 2 hours we found ourselves walking past a very fancy looking building, the hut for private guided tours.

Our home for the night was just around the corner, and the sky was starting to clear.

The Hut Mackenzie Hut is a 50 bunk, so I imagine in summer it can feel quite crowded. The hut looks out over the lake and up at Harris Saddle, which leads the way for the rest of the Routeburn Track.

In the off season there is a long drop and little firewood to use, For us this was plenty.

In the summer season there are 5 working toilets and sinks and alot of gas cookers.

Only 2 other people were in the hut with us for the night, and this was a Saturday! I highly recommend coming in off season. The hut provides information on the surrounding areas, animals and traditions. To my great amusement, I read they have an annual Scottish Christmas tradition. Holding their own Highland games and eating Haggis, one I would love to be around for.

Split Rock

After unpacking we took a side quest along the side of the lake and past the campsites, a quick 30 minute walk over some rocks and branches to a large rock Quite literal Split Rock.

We climbed up the branches and walked through the middle of the rock. I recommend checking Split Rock out for a bit of extra adventure and fun.

The next morning we woke up to a dusting of snow and patches on blue sky. By the time we cooked our pancakes and packed our bags, it had started to snow. The mountains vanished into the white ibis and the landscape turned magical. We could have spent all day watching from the hut window.

We set off and it snowed almost the whole way back to the carpark, Which only took us 3 hours. This time we were able to pass right by Earland Falls as it had lost almost all of its power overnight.