Making a Kepler Track Booking
Tucked away in the heart of Fiordland lie not only the world famous Milford Track and highly renowned Routeburn Track, but a third walk that has also met the criteria for a Great Walk of New Zealand, taking its place alongside the other nine – and it’s the Kepler Track.
This three or four day walk loops around part of Lake Te Anau, part of Lake Manapouri, and leads you up high onto the ridgeline just under Mount Luxmore absolutely pristine views. It’s a pretty incredible place to go get your wilderness fix, and a fantastic alternative to the Milford Track if you’ve missed out on getting one of its elusive spots.
Fourteen of us walked the Kepler Track together in January 2021, and while I would say, having done all 10 Great Walks of New Zealand, that this would have been the most challenging, it was certainly still very doable even with no training and only moderate fitness.
What Do I Need To Know About The Kepler Track?
The Kepler Track is a 60 kilometre (or 37 mile) loop track that most walk over three days and two nights, or four days and three nights. It starts and finishes at the bottom of Lake Te Anau and takes you across wetlands, past Lake Manapouri, around Mount Luxmore and past the Lake Te Anau basin.
It’s located in the Fiordland National Park, which occupies the bottom left corner of the South Island. You can walk the Kepler Track in either direction, although we walked clockwise, staying at Lake Manapouri on the first night and Mount Luxmore on the third night.
It’s a very popular walk and books are so important. It a track to walk in-season, because of its alpine environment (that is, unless you’re very experienced in alpine environments in the winter) and Department of Conservation wardens steward the track and check that everybody staying has their permit.
Booking Your Huts
There are three huts and two campsites on the Kepler Track. Therefore, if you are camping, you might end up walking the track in three days and two nights, as there are no alternative campsites for you to spend a third night in.
However, it is totally okay for you to book two campsites and one hut, so you can mix and match this way if you feel like you would still like to stretch the walk over four days. I would, because it can be quite taxing!
Department of Conservation Huts/Campsites
The two campsites are (going clockwise), Iris Burn Campsite and Brod Bay Campsite, which is on the shores of Lake Te Anau. The three huts are (going clockwise), Moturau Hut, which is on the shores of Lake Manapouri, Iris Burn Hut, down by the Iris Burn (which means river) Waterfall, and then Luxmore Hut, which is on the slopes of Mount Luxmore.
The huts house between 40 and 54 walkers each, which is quite large for a Department of Conservation Hut, and is due to the popularity of the track. The campsites have 15 tent sites each.
Tell Me About The Cooking Facilities
Kepler Track Huts are well maintained and these huts, unlike some of the other Great Walks, actually have cooking gas provided, so that’s one less thing to carry. We carry gas cookers regardless, just in case we want a hot drink on the track, or you don’t want to wait to cook your meal when you get in, however, it’s not necessary and people tend not to take very long on the gas hobs because most people only need boiling water for their meals. There are enough hobs to go around as well, it’s not as though there is only one stovetop at each hut!
Water is apparently best boiled before consuming – that’s the official advice, and that’s fair enough, but many people will still drink the water untreated, and I’m one of them. You can see how pure the water is in the area when you’re out walking!
Tell Me About The Sleeping Arrangements
Like any other Department of Conservation hut, the sleeping arrangements are shared bunk rooms with plastic covered mattresses. There is also lighting in the huts, but for those camping, your comfort comes down to whatever you bring with you.
Tell Me About The Toilets
Being such a popular tramp, the Department of Conservation has installed flushing toilets at the three huts – woohoo! If you are staying at the campsites, you have non-flushing toilets. There are also long drops along the track at a couple of shelters – they’re not places you stay the night, but they are there for your convenience during the day for making a a pit stop. Toilet paper is provided but I always pack a roll as it doesn’t take up much space and you never want to be without it!
Step One: Making a Great Walks Booking Account
There are two parts to making your Kepler Track booking, and the first part can be completed before bookings even open for the season. You need to have an account with the Department of Conservation Booking Service, and unless you already have one from booking another walk (in which case, use the same one) you will just need to sign up with your email and make a password.
The link to the Department of Conservation Booking Service is https://bookings.doc.govt.nz/. It is just the one booking system whereas previously there was one for Great Walks and one for other walks; they’re now one and the same so don’t get confused!
Step Two: Booking through your Great Walks Booking Account
Once you have your Department of Conservation Booking Service account all sorted out, you will be free to proceed with your actual track booking on the day it opens. The Department of Conservation will always announce the day that bookings open ahead of time; normally this is in late May, so ensure that you are aware of what that date is – and time, too, although it’s normally 09:30am when bookings open.
On the day that the bookings open for the season, I would advise getting in quick. The Kepler Track may not be as popular as the Milford Track, but it is very popular all the same and a lot of people log on that day to try and get their spots. Ensure your login and password is all working fine ahead of time.
Spaces for this track can be a little more competitive, as everyone is trying to book it in Great Walks season (October to April). That’s our spring, summer and autumn, as you would need to have an advanced set of skills to walk the Kepler Track in winter. So, unlike other tracks that can be walked year-round, there are a little less spaces up for grabs.
Know Your Party
In order to have the most successful booking experience, do as much of your planning as you can before the day that bookings open. One of the most important things that you will need to have sorted out is to know who you will be going with. You’ll need their first names, last names, and ages, if one person is doing the booking.
Have everyone transfer the money ahead of time, or have them pay you back. If everyone is booking themselves separately, make sure that you are all on the same page as to which dates you are going to walk, and the direction you are going to walk.
Know Your Dates
I would recommend having your dates written down in front of you, and whether you are wanting to camp or stay in huts. That will influence whether you are taking three days or four days to walk the Kepler Track, and it’s easy to get confused in the flurry of booking.
If you are walking clockwise, your huts are Moturau Hut, Irish Burn Hut, and then Luxmore Hut. You can skip one of those if you wish to do the track in less time, but make sure you have looked at the Department of Conservation’s Kepler Track brochure with the track elevation. It shows all the walk times and distances between the huts and campsites and you will end up with one of your three days being very long, so make sure that you are capable of doing it.
If you are walking anticlockwise, your huts are Luxmore Hut, Iris Burn Hut and then Moturau Hut at the end.
Iris Burn Campsite is located at Iris Burn Hut, and Brod Bay Campsite is a campsite all on its own between Luxmore Hut and the end of the trail.
Obviously, the date of your fourth day won’t need a booking, as you will be staying somewhere comfortable – with a hot shower – that night!
Run Your Search
On the day that bookings open, be logged into the booking service and all ready to go at the appointed time, which, as I mentioned, is normally 09:30am. Refresh the page when the clock rolls over so that you are booking at the first possible chance. You’ll use the calendar to put in your dates and need to select Kepler Track from the drop down menu.
Say whether you are taking two nights or three nights (that’s nights, not days) to walk the track, and how many people that you are going with. Then, click Search, and it will take you to a page with a grid full of green (and hopefully not too many red) squares.
Select Your Dates
The green squares represent availability at the different huts and campsites on different dates. If one is red with an exclamation mark, it is not yet fully booked, but it is close. Plain, red squares are gone for those dates.
Select the squares that correspond to your chosen hut and campsites on the left, and the dates on the top, and when you have selected them all, click Reserve.
Make Your Payment
This next page will ask for the names and ages of your party, and then you will proceed to the payment page where you will be asked for card details.
There are some different prices to know about and confer with your group about before you proceed with payment. (Have these discussions beforehand.)
New Zealanders are not charged as much for their huts as international visitors are. This is just to incentivise us kiwis to get into our own country more, and explore our own backyard! There’s also a price difference between huts and campsites, with campsites being cheaper.
A New Zealander wanting to book a hut on the Kepler Track will pay $80NZD 🇳🇿 ($50USD🇺🇸) per night, in-season, which is the end of October to the end of April.
An international visitor will pay $120NZD 🇳🇿 ($74USD 🇺🇸) per night, in-season.
It’s cheaper to go out of season, but it’s an alpine environment, so there are lots of hazards and things to be aware of first. The huts cost $25NZD 🇳🇿 ($16USD 🇺🇸) to $30NZD 🇳🇿 ($19USD 🇺🇸) regardless of who you are. (Luxmore Hut is just $5NZD 🇳🇿 ($3USD 🇺🇸) more than the other two for some reason, but only in May and June.) These rates apply to people walking the Kepler Track in May, June, July, August, September, or most of October.
Then, there’s camping.
A New Zealander wanting to book a campsite on the Kepler Track will pay $25NZD 🇳🇿 ($16USD 🇺🇸) per night, in-season.
An international visitor will pay $38NZD 🇳🇿 ($24USD 🇺🇸) per night, in-season.
Campsites off-season (brrrr!!!) are $10NZD 🇳🇿 ($6USD 🇺🇸) per night, regardless of who you are. Again, you better be someone who is familiar with alpine walking, and someone who is ready to face the cold!! We walked at the height of summer and I still wore a thermal top for the entirety of the day on the ridgeline (where it is notoriously windy).
It is so windy up there, in fact, that people have been known to get down on all fours while crossing the exposed part of the track (!!!) and if the wind forecast is too dangerous, the hut wardens will tell you so – or they’ll tell you that you need to be down in the valley by a certain time to avoid the worst of the wind. The hut wardens are there from October to April so you would be making quite important decisions by yourself if you were there at another time of year. I was not fazed by the wind that we had, but one of our friends found it really quite scary, as the path is narrow and there are steep valleys on both sides.
Tips And Tricks
1️⃣ If your chosen dates are looking like they are filling up, or have already filled up, when you go to book, see if reversing your direction makes any difference, or reversing your direction and moving your dates back or forward by a day.
2️⃣ If you are really bothered by the costs of walking in-season, you can either shorten the walk and do it in two nights – those are big days, but people do it – or, spend one of the nights (or all of the nights) camping, for a big saving. You will just need to carry a lightweight tent with you, but if you’re sharing with someone, you can take turns carrying it.
3️⃣ If you are booking for quite a few people, or you are booking on a public weekend, you are going to have a slightly harder job of securing all those bookings. Work fast, and have everyones names and ages in front of you on paper so you are entering them as quickly as possible. Or, have someone in your party booking for half of the group, with you booking for the other half, so that if one of you does miss out, you at least have some bookings secured for some people.
Even if half of you got clockwise bookings and half of you got anti clockwise bookings, you would still be able to hang out at Iris Burn Hut on the second evening.
Cancellations and Refunds
It’s always a shame when something crops up! It’s best to talk to the Department of Conservation by phone or by email about your individual circumstances. This page of theirs goes into detail about cancellations and refunds.
Booking Your Transport
After you’ve booked your spot on the Kepler Track – yay! – it’s time to think about getting in and out. It’s not too hard with the Kepler Track as you are not very far from the township of Te Anau, and it has the added benefit of being a loop track. The full loop is Kepler Track Carpark back to, well, the Kepler Track Carpark, but ..
.. some people chop off a bit by starting (or finishing) at Rainbow Beach, (that’s 9.5 kilometres, 6 miles, or two and a half hours walking time from the carpark trailhead),
and some people chop off a bit by starting or finishing at Brod Bay (that’s 5.5 kilometres, 3.5 miles, or an hour and a half of walking time from the carpark trailhead). This can be a great option if you need to get the whole way around in three days.
🚌 Getting To The Kepler Track Carpark By Road
The Kepler Track Carpark is not far from the township of Te Anau – just 5 kilometres (or 3 miles). From town, you take the highway out for a couple of kilometres, take right hand turn onto Golf Course Road, and follow that down for a couple of kilometres – easy!
⛴️ Getting To Brod Bay (alternative trailhead) Trailhead By Boat
A second option is to take a water taxi over part of Lake Te Anau from the township of Te Anau. This option will take you to Brod Bay, which is near the end of the track, but it’s not the official startpoint – it will give you an hour and a half’s head start, but I won’t tell!! The water taxi is 15 minute boat ride, and with a climb ahead of you up to Luxmore Hut, you’ll be pleased you shaved the first part of the day off!
🚌 Getting To Rainbow Beach (alternative trailhead) Trailhead By Road
A third option is to opt for five minutes more of driving time from the township of Te Anau, and to drive for 12 kilometres (or 7.5 miles) instead of 5, to reach Rainbow Beach. It’s a ten minute drive from town, instead of a five minute drive, and there are bus routes here if you do not have your own vehicle. Those few minutes in the car will save you two and a half hours of walking time, so not a bad idea. The choice is yours.
Operators
Below are six operators in the area who can help you out with transport if you do not have your own.
👉🏻 Easy Hike specialise in vehicle relocates and $125NZD 🇳🇿 ($77USD 🇺🇸) per car to relocate between town and either the trailhead or Rainbow Beach, whichever length of loop you’re walking.
👉🏻 Fiordland Outdoors can either get you to the carpark trailhead, or to Brod Bay by water taxi. They can collect you from Rainbow Beach, or the actual carpark, so lots of options. Their one way water taxi fare is $30NZD 🇳🇿 ($19USD 🇺🇸), and their return trip, (which is to water taxi to Brod Bay, walk anticlockwise, and then get their bus from the Rainbow Beach end) is $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸). They can also do a vehicle relocate for $125NZD 🇳🇿 ($77USD 🇺🇸).
👉🏻 Tracknet charge $29NZD 🇳🇿 ($18USD 🇺🇸) for a return bus trip between the township of Te Anau, the Kepler Track Carpark, and Rainbow Beach at the other end. If you wish to take the water taxi to Brod Bay and walk a shorter loop anticlockwise round to Rainbow Beach, getting the bus back to town from there, that round trip package is $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸).
They’ll also take you between Queenstown and the trailhead both ways for $145NZD 🇳🇿 ($90USD 🇺🇸), (and an extra $25NZD 🇳🇿, or $16USD 🇺🇸) to do one of those legs by boat).
👉🏻 Cheeky Kiwi Travel do bus transfers between Queenstown and Te Anau but do not specify taking you to the trailhead from Te Anau.
👉🏻 Fiordland Tours charge $15NZD 🇳🇿 ($9USD 🇺🇸) to take you between the township of Te Anau and the Kepler Track carpark, and it’s just a little further to Rainbow Beach, which is $30NZD 🇳🇿 ($19USD 🇺🇸) from town.
👉🏻 Fiordland Jet is in here as they are another operator in the area, but you may not be using them if you are strictly wanting to walk the Kepler Track from start to finish. They have a bus and jet boat combo package for $155NZD 🇳🇿 ($96USD 🇺🇸) and their jet boat leg makes you from the trailhead down the Waiau River to Moturau Hut on the shores of Lake Manapouri. This is where the first/last hut is, so this can save you a day if you are wanting to shorten the loop – and what a fun way to travel!
Air Transport
If, like us, you are coming from another part of New Zealand and need to fly into Queenstown Airport (ZQN) to do the Kepler Track, this is another cost to budget for. From Queenstown there are operators like Cheeky Kiwi Travel and Tracknet who can get you to the track, so this can be a really good option for people who are coming in and going out especially for the Kepler Track.
Queenstown to Te Anau is a two hour drive, 171 kilometres, or 106 miles.
An alternative airport is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is a two hour drive away, too – 155 kilometres, or 96 miles.
Is There A Guided Walk Option?
Unlike the other Great Walks, I could not find anything that was truly the equivalent of doing the whole track but with a guide, however, these three options below are worth looking into if you are wanting to be looked after a little more.
👉🏻 Go New Zealand will not actually guide you on the track, but for $1225NZD 🇳🇿 ($758USD 🇺🇸) they will plan your three day two night self-guided adventure on the track, including your water taxi, your return by road, your hut fees, and provide food and gear.
👉🏻 While not strictly the entire Great Walk, Fiordland Lodge offer an option which is a helicopter ride to Luxmore Hut, and then the walk back down to Brod Bay (which is essentially the first/last day of the Great Walk, depending on your direction). This is a day-trip heli-hike option with lunch as an add-on, which costs $695NZD 🇳🇿 ($430USD 🇺🇸) (or $2350NZD 🇳🇿 – $1455USD 🇺🇸 – for a private small group).
👉🏻 A similar concept in the other direction is to take a jet boat ride down the Waiau River with Trips & Tramps from the trailhead to Lake Manapouri, and then to walk back, which is essentially the first/last day of the Great Walk. This day trip option is $395NZD 🇳🇿 ($245USD 🇺🇸).
What Will It Cost Me?
The Kepler Track is one track that can end up being relatively affordable, compared to other Great Walks, because the logistics regarding transport are easy, short and cheap.
The actual track will cost a New Zealander anywhere between $50NZD 🇳🇿 ($31USD 🇺🇸), for two nights in campsites, in-season, and $240NZD 🇳🇿 ($149USD 🇺🇸), for three nights in huts, in-season.
It will cost an International visitor anywhere between $76NZD 🇳🇿 ($47USD 🇺🇸), for two nights in campsites, in-season, and $360NZD 🇳🇿 ($223USD 🇺🇸), for three nights in huts, in-season.
Yes, you can go off-season, for between $20NZD 🇳🇿 ($12USD 🇺🇸) (two nights camping) and $80NZD 🇳🇿 ($50USD 🇺🇸) (three nights in huts), but consider all the risks that come with being in an alpine environment in the winter.
Your transport between the Kepler Track and the township of Te Anau – two ways – will cost you anywhere between $29NZD 🇳🇿 ($18USD 🇺🇸) and $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸), depending on who you go through, (with the more expensive jet boat option, where the return package back to town is $155NZD 🇳🇿 ($96USD 🇺🇸), but it’s not technically the full loop as you cut off a day’s walking.)
A vehicle relocate will cost you between $125NZD 🇳🇿 ($77USD 🇺🇸) although this can be split between your group members, as the cost is per car.
Expect anywhere between $49NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸) and $515NZD 🇳🇿 ($319USD 🇺🇸) for these bookings, all together.
You’ll almost certainly want to stay one or two nights in Te Anau either before and/or after the track, so factor in those costs, as well as petrol, if you’re driving into Te Anau from elsewhere, plus your food and supplies. Don’t forget flights to Queenstown and return transport from Queenstown if this is the option you are looking at.
All things considered, doing the Kepler Track would be expected to cost you anywhere upward of $200NZD 🇳🇿 ($124USD 🇺🇸) (but likely a few hundred more than that, depending on the factors listed above). It’s up to you whether you add water taxi, jet boat or helicopter transfers just for the fun of it, or keep it simple!
We kept it really simple, taking road transport both ways and staying a night in Te Anau. We thoroughly enjoyed our four days on the track, especially swimming in Lake Manapouri and the Iris Burn (river), and checking out the caves at Mount Luxmore. My best memory is of walking the home stretch down to Brod Bay from Luxmore Hut, which is all beech forest, and how much I enjoyed the beauty of this section and the sunlight streaming through the beeches.
I am sure you will love it just as much and hope this guide has served you!
