Lewis Pass National Reserve: Lewis Pass Tarn

Return to the tarn at Lewis Pass 

The first walk I finished on my recent trip to Nelson Lakes was actually the short walk to the tarn at Lewis Pass. I was passing by over Lewis Pas and stopped for a break here. I have been here many times in the past...it is always beautiful and the surroundings are stunning. 

View down the Lewis River Valley from Lewis Pass Tarn

Every visit to the Lewis Pass Tarn is different depending on the weather you encounter..it sets the scene for how you view your experience. 

Exploring the area around the Lewis Pass carpark:

I was on my way to Nelson Lakes NP for a couple of days and Lewis Pass is always a good spot to stop for a rest as it it is roughly 2-3 hours from Christchurch. It's good to get out and stretch your legs before tackling the downhill drive to Springs Junction. 

Carpark for the Lewis Pass Tarn/St James Walkway

Map: Lewis Pass and surrounds...

The carpark at Lewis Pass is just before you reach the highest point of the road on the eastern side of the mountains. There is space here for around a dozen cars and especially on fine days and weekends it will be full of trampers and voyageurs enjoying the surrounding mountains. 

Space for about 20 vehicles here at Lewis Pass

From the carpark there are a couple of tracks you can access...on the southern side of SH 73 is the track to the Lewis Pass Tops and the series of lovely tarns along the top of the range of mountains to the east of the Maruia River. On the carpark side of the highway there are tracks to the Lewis Pass Tarn, Lewis Pass Alpine Loop Walk and of course the St James Walkway.

View along the Maruia Valley to the Spencer Range

The tarn is moderately large and quite large waves can develop on the surface as the wind is often blowing across the pass with a bit of force. During colder weather I have seen the tarn completely frozen over though this only happens if there is a lot of snow laying on the ground at the pass.

The Libreto Range overlooks the Lewis Pass Tarn

Lewis Pass Tarn from the St James Walkway

You walk down the St James Walkway for about the first 400 meters of the track to where the track diverts along the Nature Walk. It is worth walking down to this end of the tarn just for the view back over the tarn and down the Lewis River Valley. 

View back over the Lewis Pass Tarn

The tarn is at around 900 meters a.s.l and it is one of the few alpine tarns here in New Zealand easily accessible from the road. Most of the others are atop mountain ranges and require you to walk a couple of hours to view them. 

Multiple tracks start at Lewis Pass

There is a day shelter, toilet and viewpoint at the eastern end of the tarn all along the same short side track from the carpark. The shelter is there for people walking off this end of the St James Walkway...it is open sided but it will keep the rain off you as you wait for a shuttle to collect you. 

Track to the Lewis Pass Day Shelter

Lewis Pass Day Shelter, Lewis Pass National Reserve

There is a watertank attached to the side of the shelter supplied from rainwater run off and along drop toilet just past the hut. You could easily make yourself reasonably comfortable here for a couple of hours...

Day shelter at Lewis Pass...water tank and toilet

The view from the lookout is across the tarn and down the Maruia River Valley to the Spencer Range. The Spencer Range has peaks above 2200 meters and includes mountains such as Gloriana, Una, Desa and the Fairie Queene. These were all names used in a Tennyson poem from the early 1800's. 

Lewis Pass Tarn from the lookout

There was still snow on some of the peak as we have had a late winter this year with  significant snow falls as late as October. It is starting to melt now but it will be an impedance for people crossing the high mountain passes through to the end of December. 

High points along the Spencer Range

To the north east of the tarn lies the Opera and Libretto Ranges and if you are here on a calm still day you can often take beautiful reflective images of the mountains on the surface of the tarn. 

Freyburg Range is to the west of Lewis Pass Tarn

The Opera Range is beyond the Lewis Pass Tarn

I was at the tarn for about an hour filming the tarn and also walking the Lewis Pass Nature Walk. I have vlogs on the way for both of these and they will be appearing on my You Tube channel in due course...

Quiet day at the Lewis Pass Tarn carpark

Lewis Pass is 400 meters west of the carpark

Lewis Pass is another 400 meters up the highway and it is one of the four ways you can drive from east to west over the Southern Alps. The others are Arthurs Pass, Haast Pass and Hope Pass. The West Coast is wetter than the east so when you travel one of these roads you will see a change in the vegetation with Beech forest and tussock lands dominating the east and dense Podocarp forest to the west. 

This is the northern terminus of the St James Walkway

I also walked along the Lewis Pass Nature Walk to get some material for a vlog about the track...I will cover that in a separate post!

Access: From SH 7 (Lewis Pass Highway) a short boardwalk track leads to the Lewis Pass Tarn lookout. You can access several other tracks from the carpark including the Lewis Tops Track, Alpine Nature Loop Track and the St James Walkway.

Track Times: It is two minutes to the Lewis Pass Tarn from the carpark (follow the signs). Other tracks are from 30 minutes to several days depending on length.

Miscellaneous: The Lewis Pass Tarn is in a high alpine area and as such is prone to extreme weather. There is a toilet and trampers shelter near the tarn available to all visitors. Severe avalanche risk on the Lewis Pass Tops & St James Walkway in winter/spring so only proceed if safe (check the Avalanche Advisory website)

YouTube: Lewis Pass Tarn