History

The first human traffic in the Routeburn area (around 1500AD) is believed to be local Maori on the crusades for their precious pounamu (New Zealand jade or greenstone). The Routeburn itself didn't contain large quantities of greenstone but was used by Maori as a passage between two of their main sources; the Dart Valley and the Arahura River on the West Coast.

The pioneering days of the 1860s and 70s brought the first Europeans to the Routeburn. In their quest for grazing land, David McKellar and George Gunn were the first to visit what is now the western side of the Routeburn Track in 1861. Shortly after this, gold was discovered in the Wakatipu. This led the government to investigate the possibility of establishing a port on the West Coast and a track up the Routeburn Valley, over the Harris Saddle to the Hollyford Valley thus linking Queenstown with the outside world.

The first sightseers from Queenstown up the Routeburn Valley were in the 1880s, with the trip from Kinloch (near Glenorchy) to the Harris Saddle taking 3 days. The New Zealand Government Department of Tourism was set up in the early 1900s and work on the Routeburn Track restarted, with the track to the saddle being completed and huts built at Routeburn Flats and Lake Howden. In these days walking from the saddle to Howden invoved dropping down to the Hollyford and climbing back up at Howden!

In 1912 a direct route from the saddle to foot of Key Summit was investigated, which led to the discovery of Lake Mackenzie. Construction on the track began, but tools were downed with the outbreak of World War One and this section was not completed until the late 1930s. Visitors would travel from Queenstown by steamship, then travel from Kinloch up the Routeburn Valley on horseback or in open top bus. The popularity of the Routeburn led to the construction of trampers' huts and the founding of Routeburn Track Guided Walk in 1968.

From then the Routeburn Track has grown to become one of New Zealand's and the world's best loved walking tracks. Come and see for yourself and get ready to be inspired!