Ben Lomond
5,700 feet above Lake Wakatipu, with the Remarkables facing you.
Duration
5 hrs – 8 hrs
Difficulty
●●●●○
Best time
Early start, December to March
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Ben Lomond tops out at one thousand four hundred and thirty-eight metres, a thousand above Lake Wakatipu. The trail leaves from central Queenstown and climbs without let-up through forest and then tussock, before a rocky final ridge.
The summit gives the whole lake, the Remarkables opposite — a range so named because it is one of the few in the world aligned exactly north-south — and out to Mount Aspiring in clear weather. That is six to eight hours return from town, or four starting from the top of the gondola.
Getting there
The trail starts at the end of Lomond Crescent, in town. The Skyline gondola saves the first six hundred metres of climb.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Sportswear
Rules on site
The final ridge is exposed and New Zealand weather turns fast: layers, and turn back if the cloud comes down. The trail stays under snow until November and becomes alpine again from April.