Roys Peak
A narrow ridge above Lake Wanaka, with Mount Aspiring opposite.
Duration
5 hrs – 7 hrs
Difficulty
●●●●○
Best time
Set off before dawn
Open
Closed October and November
Entry price
Free
Roys Peak rises one thousand five hundred and seventy-eight metres above Lake Wanaka. The climb is sixteen kilometres return for twelve hundred metres of ascent, on a service track of even switchbacks through sheep pasture.
The photograph that made the place famous is taken from a ridge spur below the summit, where you stand facing the lake. It sent visitor numbers soaring from 2015, to the point that a queue now forms at that exact spot. The track closes in October and November for lambing.
Getting there
Six kilometres west of Wanaka, on the Mount Aspiring road. Small paid car park at the trailhead.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- 1.5 L of water
- Cap
- Sportswear
Rules on site
The track closes from early October to late November for lambing, without exception. There is no shade and no water over the twelve hundred metres of climb: two litres a person minimum.
