Qualla: Greenstone and Caples Tracks

Greenstone and Caples Tracks: Introduction

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit André Richard Chalmers, CC BY-SA 4.0. In August 2023, eighteen takahē walked into the Greenstone Valley and disappeared into the tussock. The flightless birds, once declared extinct in 1898 before a remnant population was rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains in 1948, were being released onto Ngāi Tahu tribal land as part of a recovery program run by the Department of Conservation and the local iwi. That these particular valleys - the Greenstone and the Caples, which together form a 61 km tramping circuit on the South Island - were chosen for the release says something about the quality of the habitat. It also says something about the unusual ownership arrangement that makes this track unlike any other in Fiordland: much of the land belongs not to the Crown but to Ngāi Tahu, the principal Maori tribe of the South Island.

Image: André Richard Chalmers | CC BY-SA 4.0

Greenstone and Caples Tracks: Two Valleys, One Loop

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sarang, Public domain. The Greenstone and Caples are two separate tracks that together form a circuit, linked at their upper ends by the McKellar Saddle. Most trampers walk the loop in four to five days, following the Caples River up its valley, crossing the saddle, and descending the Greenstone River ...

Image: Sarang | Public domain

Greenstone and Caples Tracks: The Quiet Alternative

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sarang, Public domain. The circuit's position next to the Routeburn Track is both its greatest asset and the reason most international visitors overlook it. The McKellar Hut, near the saddle connecting the two valleys, also provides access to the Routeburn - meaning trampers can combine the two tracks ...

Image: Sarang | Public domain

Greenstone and Caples Tracks: World Heritage Country

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sam Genas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The entire area falls within Te Wahipounamu, the South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area, a UNESCO designation that recognizes the region's outstanding natural values. The beech forests that cloak both valleys are ancient - southern beech species that have grown here since New...

Image: Sam Genas | CC BY-SA 3.0

Greenstone and Caples Tracks: Connections and Crossings

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit André Richard Chalmers, CC BY-SA 4.0. What makes the Greenstone and Caples circuit compelling for longer-distance trampers is how it connects to everything around it. From the Greenstone Hut at the circuit's southeastern corner, a track leads south to the Mavora Lakes Conservation Park, opening up days of additional ...

Image: André Richard Chalmers | CC BY-SA 4.0