Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk, Nelson Lakes NP: 8 May 2021

Visiting the less known part of Nelson Lakes NP

I recently went for a trip to Nelson Lakes National Park with the intention of staying at St Arnaud and doing a series of day walks in the area. I managed to get a good start to my program with a brace of walks on the first day.  Then I found out that my partner Karen had been knocked off her bike on the way to work so I had to hot foot it back to Christchurch. She is fine by the way but off work for six weeks with a broken foot and some other injuries.

Lake Rotoroa carpark, shelter and boat ramp...Nelson Lakes NP

I got two tramps completed before heading home..the first was on the Mt Robert Circuit at Lake Rotoiti and the second was a short walk at Lake Rotoroa along the Nature Walk.

View of Lake Rotoroa from the boat dock

Lake Rotoroa is the second of the big lakes in Nelson Lakes NP and it is actually far larger than Lake Rotoiti. It used to be quite a popular place for adventures into the Sabine and D'Urville Valley's but is a bit of a backwater now with few visitors. It is probably going to be one of the next places to face development as there is flat land with beautiful forest and a lovely lake at its center. 

Lake Rotoroa is nearly twice as long as Lake Rotoiti

There is a ramp for launching boats which is why most people visit and there are a number of short walks starting at the western end of the lake. There used to be an excellent track along the north-eastern side of the lake from Lake Rotoroa settlement to Sabine Hut. 

The Lake Rotoroa Track was largely destroyed in a big storm about 6-7 years ago and never repaired. I walked along this track as part of an Army exercise back in 1989/1990 and it was an easy to follow track much like the Lakehead Track at Lake Rotoiti. 

The carpark and day shelter at Lake Rotoroa, Nelson Lakes NP

There is not much at this end of Lake Rotoroa...a small DOC campsite, half a dozen holiday homes, a carpark with day shelter and a dock for small boats. There is a small shelter here with the remains of a historic canoe used by the first European to live in the area...

Remnants of Peter Johansen's canoe...Lake Rotoroa

Peter Johansen used the dugout canoe to move people around the area and to access his farm up near the D'Urville River. The canoe eventually disappeared until it was discovered buried in the mud on one of the beaches near the dock. 

Peter Johansen's canoe...in its shelter

I happened to give a ride to a trio of guys who had tramped along the old Lake Rotoroa Track recently and they said that someone has been restoring it. It must be volunteers doing the work as DOC have abandoned the track. Supposedly it is a bit rough in places but still usable so this might be a possible trip idea for some time in the future. More research would be required before I would head up that route...you could be landing yourself in a real world of hurt.

DOC map of Lake Rotoroa and surrounds

Probably the easiest idea is to catch the water-taxi from the carpark up to Sabine Hut or D'Urville Hut at the other end of the lake. It would save you a whole day of walking and a lot of sweat and possibly tears.

Mt Misery just visible at the far end of Lake Rotoroa

Nelson Lakes National Park is much larger than just the area around St Arnaud. If you only ever visit the northern part of the park at Lake Rotoiti you are missing out on some awesome tramping. BTW: this would be a great kayak trip...up the lake to one of the distant DOC huts and back again over 2-3 days...

Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk:

My primary focus for this trip was a series of shorter day walks in Nelson Lakes NP and I was either camping or staying in a local motel at nighttime. As I said I managed to get two tramps in before I had to head home one of which was the short Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk. 

Start of the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk, Nelson Lakes NP

Map: Lake Rotoroa Settlement and Nature Walk

The nature walk starts from the carpark at Lake Rotoroa settlement and loops through the forest for about 1.5 kilometers. At the carpark head across the grass area towards the edge of the lake shore and follow the track markers...

The Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk starts at the lake edge...

The forest around here is a mixture of Podocarp and Beech species with the predominant tree being Red Beech and Kahikatea. It is a rough bush track but the forest is quite beautiful with huge trees and thick undergrowth. It seems certain that this area has never been milled for timber as some of the trees must be 400-600 years old. 

Into the bush on the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk....

Young Matai tree along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

 I noticed a lot of flood debris just inland from the lakefront...so it can flood into the forest after heavy rain in its catchment. The outlet from Lake Rotoroa is the narrow Gowan River the lake can rise quite a lot above its normal level.

First bridge along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

A mixture of lowland tree types, Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

The track crosses a number of small streams and creeks but all but one of them are bridged so this is an all weather track. None of the streams had much water in them on the day but I imagine this is not always the case as you can get some good storms up here in Winter and Spring.

Another of the footbridges along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Open area with fern glade, Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

There were plenty of orange DOC track markers along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk to keep you following the right path. 

Plenty of trail marking along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk: moss covered trees...

There is a track junction about 15 minutes along the track where the Nature Walk separates from the five hour route to the other end of Lake Rotoroa. There is a sign across the route warning of the rough nature of the track which is very real. People should not venture further along this route without a full set of outdoor gear including a tent, PLB, navigation equipment, maps/compass and fantastic backcountry skills.

 It probably sees less than 20 parties per year so be prepared for some hard work!

Junction of Lake Rotoroa Route and Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

This is real Tiger country and very seldom visited so if you go along the Lake Rotoroa Route you will probably be totally on your own.

The trail to Tiger country...Lake Rotoroa Route

The track is well maintained with no trees down over the track at all and the couple that had fallen close to the track had been thoroughly cleared away from the track side. The forest gradually changes from thick three tier Beech forest to more open Podocarp forest the further away from the lake you walk. 

Moving into Red Beech forest....Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Fungi growing along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Open Red Beech forest, Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk: these trees will be 300+ years old!!!

As you walk down to the Porika 4 W/D Track the beech trees give way to Podocarp forest with a mix of Kahikatea/Matai/Miro and Rata Trees. There were also a number of young Rimu growing...still small at less than 5 meters tall but eventually they will be as massive as the other trees in the area. 

Red Beech, Kahikatea and Matai Trees, Lake Rotoroa

Young Lancewood Tree, Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

All of these larger trees will be over 300 years of age...just coming to maturity for most Podocarp species. Some of the hardier trees like Red Beech, Rata and Rimu can live for much longer 600-800 years.

Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk...one of the Red Beech

Staring up into the canopy of a Red Beech

It is lovely to walk amongst these giants of the forest...I was not expecting this as I just assumed that this area would have been harvested for timber long ago. It is likely that the remoteness of the area and lack of settlement preserved the forest in its original state. 

General condition of the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Beech, Matai and Rimu along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

I kept walking past Fushia Trees as I walked along the track...I was surprised to see them here as you normally get them at higher altitudes. Nice to see them though...they are one of my favorite native trees...

Native Fuschia Tree near PorikaTrack

Half way point along the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

These photos give you an idea of how big the root base is on one of these podocarp trees. This Kahikatea tree has fallen down at some point in the past just off the track. The roots at the base were easily 2-3 meters wide but as you can see they are super shallow. 

That is why you often see big swathes of downed forest...if one blows over it will knock others down as it falls. The gap in the canopy also allows strong wind into the forest and can lead to a domino effect blowing down one tree after the other. 

Old blown down tree...Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Root mat on the above fallen tree...Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk: the thick trackside undergrowth...

After about 25 minutes you will come to a rough 4 W/D road which joins onto the end of the Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk. This is the Porika Track...you turn left back towards the carpark and walk along the road. 

The Porika Track heads over the Muntz Range and comes out close to the Howard River off SH 63. Looking at the topo map it looks like a rough, steep and difficult track but I suppose you could use it as a route to walk over the mountains. Walks for the future perhaps....?

Approaching Porika Track...Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk

Turn left onto Porika Track to get back to the Lake Rotoroa car park

There is a small stream about 100 meters up the Porika Track which you need to cross..easy on this day with no rain but it actually looked like it could be quite deep when flooded. If you got to this point and couldn't cross the stream turn around and head back along the bush track. You are surrounded by massive Red Beech and Kahikatea Trees as you walk along the 4 W/D track and it feels very remote. 

Shallow stream crossing Porika Track, Lake Rotoroa

Approaching the holiday homes on Porika Track, Lake Rotoroa

You eventually pop out next to the start of Lake Rotoroa settlement and there are about ten  private properties along the road. These are all holiday homes with only a couple being permanently occupied so they look a bit overgrown. 

Start of Lake Rotoroa settlement on Porika Track

There are a couple of nice houses here and one place with an attached small house you can stay in. There is also a lodge at Lake Rotoroa but it has been closed since Covid rolled in as it catered for the well heeled tourist trade and will not reopen until they do...

Some of the Lake Rotoroa holiday homes...

Holiday home near the Lake Rotoroa campsite

There is a small campsite at Lake Rotoroa with powered and non powered sites available. It looks like it could hold about 10 people at one time...there are water taps here but no toilet. The only public toilet at Lake Rotoroa is down near the carpark. 

It is probably only full over summer when people with motorboats come to visit the lake. 

Lake Rotoroa campsite, Nelson Lakes NP

The Lake Rotoroa campsite is near the end of the access road...

Enough sites at Lake Rotoroa campsite for around ten vans/tents

From the campsite you once again turn left and head down one of the gravel access roads back to the lake front carpark. There is really beautiful forest along the road with several large Fuschia Trees at the start of the track. There is a small toilet block along the road which is close to the campsite so you could use this if camping locally. 

Access road to the Lake Rotoroa carpark from Porika Track

Native Fuchsia Trees near the Lake Rotoroa campsite

Back at the Silver Surfer, Lake Rotoroa

Toilet bock at the Lake Rotoroa carpark

There is a small day shelter at the Lake Rotoroa carpark with seats and a table inside. Fair warning Lake Rotoroa is sandfly heaven (...which is probably why it is less developed...). Much, much worse that any other place I have visited in Nelson Lakes NP. It would be nigh on impossible to sit in the shelter for more than two minutes before the furious aerial assault would force you to run for cover inside your car. 

Lake Rotoroa day shelter, Nelson Lakes NP

There is a small boat ramp and a dock located next to the Lake Rotoroa carpark and the local water-taxi boat was tied up at the dock. Over the summer the water taxi runs scheduled and charter trips to various places up the lake such as Sabine Hut, and D'Urville Hut. 

Lake Rotoroa dock with the local water-taxi...

From there you can walk up the Sabine River, D'Urville River and over the mountains to the Matakitaki Valley to spots such as Blue Lake, Moss Pass, Waiau Pass, Mt Misery and Lake Angelus. 

Looking down Lake Rotoroa from the dock

Lake Rotoroa is truly a remote location and even though there is a large and interesting lake here it gets few visitors and is largely forgotten by the majority of people. It is a real pity as it is lovely...

I will be back the next time I am heading to St Arnaud or Nelson as I would really like to walk the nearby Braeburn Walk. One of my colleagues who visited recently said it is a nice 1-2 hour bush walk which leads to a lovely waterfall. 

Lake Rotoiti is on the other side of the Muntz Range...Lake Rotoroa

If you ever find yourself passing by the Lake Rotoroa turn off en-route to St Arnaud, Nelson, Blenheim or Murchison I totally recommend you stop by Lake Rotoroa. Go see what the other half of Nelson Lakes National Park has to offer. 

Access: Turn off SH 6 at Gowanbridge and follow Gowan Valley Road for 11 kilometers to the start of Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk and Nelson Lakes National Park.
Track Times: Lake Rotoroa Nature Walk is approximately 1.5 kilometers or 25-40 minutes along a forest loop track. 
Miscellaneous: There is a toilet and day shelter at the Lake Rotoroa carpark. Be prepared to fight off massive swarms of voracious sandflies. Do not follow the Lake Rotoroa Route to the Sabine Valley without suitable equipment and experience.