Loop Track, Lake Rotoiti, 8th January 2022

 Another short walk off the Lakehead Track...Loop Track

When I was planning this trip to Nelson Lakes the first track I put on my to do list was the circular Loop Track on the northern shore of Lake Rotoiti. I have walked past one or the other of the track ends over a dozen times now and thought '..I wonder what is up there...?"

I finally got to find out...

Setting out from Nelson Lakes Motels for the track

I was staying at Nelson Lakes Motel while I was in the area and most of the walks I did were within walking distance so I just left the car at the motel. For this track I walked back along the Black Valley Walk to Lake Road and then down the Gibbs Track to the start of the track near Kerr Bay. 

Entrance to the Gibbs Track on Lake Road, St Arnaud

Heading down Gibbs Track to Kerr Bay Campsite

You are heading for the start of the Lakehead Track just next to the Kerr Bay Campsite. I walked through the campsite on the way to the track and back through the same area at the end of the tramp.

You pass through Kerr Bay Campsite on the way...

From the carpark next to the Kerr Bay dock you can reach a number of tracks including the Loop Track, St Arnaud Range Track and Lakehead Track which are all part of this circuit. There is parking here for about 25 cars so if you are just visiting for the day this is where you should leave your car. 

Lakehead Track to Loop Walk...

The first 600 meters of this walk are along the Lakehead Track from Kerr Bay to the turn off to the St Arnaud Range Track. The track is nice easy flat walking to start with a bit of a climb a couple of hundred meters along to get up and over a headland. You are walking on the Lakehead Track the whole way and the turn off is well marked. 

Start of the tracks off Lakehead Track

Map: St Arnaud Range Track and Loop Track

A hundred meters along the track are a series of panels with information about the local flora, fauna and history of the National Park. Additionally there are a number of smaller panels next to different tree species as this is a part of the Bellbird Nature Walk which also starts here. 

Interpretive panels along Lakehead Track

Heading towards the start of St Arnaud Track from Kerr Bay

You should take the opportunity to walk to the lake shore along here as there are some stunning views up Lake Rotoiti to the Travers Valley and distant mountain ranges. Mt Robert dominates the southern side of the lake and you can clearly see Paddy's Track snaking down the side of the slopes. 

Looking up Lake Rotoiti to Mt Robert and Travers Valley

There is a short climb at the northern edge of the lake which takes you up onto the headland that houses the track junction and turn off to the St Arnaud Range. 

At the junction of Bellbird Walk and Lakehead Track

This was the busiest part of the whole tramp and I passed about half a dozen people along this section of the track. The rest of the walk was much less crowded and I had the forest almost to myself for quite a while. 

On the Loop Walk at Lake Rotoiti:

The Loop Track is a sub route off the St Arnaud Range Track so you will be walking on this track for the first 30 odd minutes. 

St Arnaud Range Track-Lakehead Track Junction

You can walk the Loop Track in either direction but I think clockwise is the best way as the land flows better in that direction. Of course it is up to you so if you want to walk anti clockwise just continue along Lakehead Track for another kilometer until you strike the Loop Track sign. 

The Loop Track is off the St Arnaud Range Track

Climbing up the St Arnaud Range Track

  

The easy Honeydew Walk is also a sub route off the St Arnaud Range Walk so the first couple of hundred meters of the track are built to an almost Great walk standard. It is nice and wide, and covered with a compacted gravel surface. If you were to continue along the Honeydew Walk you will find this same standard of track along its full length. 

...the track to the Honeydew Walk is wide to start...

Junction of the St Arnaud Range Track and Honeydew Walk

The St Arnaud Range Track branches off the high standard track and immediately turns into your standard bush track. It is heading across a number of old glacial terraces with a thick covering of Beech forest. It is muddy, rough and steep in places so from this point onwards you will need to keep an eye on your footing. 

Rougher conditions on the St Arnaud Range Track

Red Beech trees along the St Arnaud Range Track

You climb up onto three different terraces as you go...when there was a glacier in the Travers Valley it deposited huge amounts of till at this end of the lake and over the millennia it has flattened out and formed the flat ground you are walking over. 

Climbing another old glacial terrace, St Arnaud Range Track

The St Arnaud Range Track crosses flat ground...

...open swampy area on the St Arnaud Range Track...

After a while you climb over a small ridge and pass over an area of swamp and wetland with a section of boardwalk to protect the delicate plants. There are a number of smaller streams coming down off the St Arnaud Range and they have pooled in places right along this side of Lake Rotoiti. 

Climbing up onto another terrace along the St Arnaud Range Track

Boardwalk over swamp...St Arnaud Range Track

The last section of the St Arnaud Range Track is up to the bank of  Borlase Stream...this is where the Loop Track turns off the main track. The water coming down Borlase Stream is clean enough to drink but I would still filter or treat it if you are thinking of using it. 

Climbing up towards Borlase Stream, St Arnaud Range Track

If you cross Borlase Stream you will eventually arrive at the Parachute Rocks high above St Arnaud. I went up this track back in 2015 or 2016 and it was a hard climb as you are going from 700 meters to over 1700 meters over the next 2-3 hours. The views from the rocks are amazing though which is why it is one of the most popular tracks in the park. 

At Borlase Stream on the St Arnaud Range Track

Past the Parachute Rocks you can climb to the top of the St Arnaud Range and head along the tops to a series of beautiful tarns scattered right along the range. There is superb camping to be had and you will probably find you are the only person there for most of the year. 

Lake Rotoiti and St Arnaud from the Parachute Rocks in 2016

Borlase Stream in Nelson Lakes NP

The Loop Track itself turns off to the right of the St Arnaud Range Track and heads off along a spur and into the forest. From here you will be walking along the side of the hills for about a kilometer...

Finally on the Loop Track at Lake Rotoiti

You find yourself walking along the top of a spur-line running parallel with the St Arnaud Range and the travel is easy as you weave in and between the trees on a easy to follow track. There are a lot of birds in the area as there is a large scale pest trapping program at this end of Lake Rotoiti. I heard some Kaka at one point but could not see them in the canopy...

Mixed Beech forest along the Loop Track

For the most part the track is covered by dry Beech leaf liter but there are a couple of places where small streams have turned the track muddy. Most of this track could be walked in shoes but this section is where a good set of boots come into play as you don't need as much care to keep your feet dry. 

Some areas of the Loop Track are muddy

Evidence of the mud on the Loop Track, Lake Rotoiti

Towards the end of the spur you will find a drop off to your right and the slopes along here are covered in dense stands of ferns. The forest is a bit more open and light as the trees turn to a mix of large Red Beech and Mountain Beech. 

Walking along a spur on the Loop Track, Nelson Lakes NP

There are extensive areas of fern off the Loop Track

Typical track conditions on the Loop Track, Nelson Lakes NP

Just before you turn and start back down towards the lake you pass through an area of very old Red Beech and there were some massive examples here. Some of them would easily be 2-3 meters around the trunk and 30-35 meters tall. 

Some of the Red Beech are huge....Loop Track

Loop Track, the start of the descent back to Lake Rotoiti

The track descends from 800 meters asl to 700 meters asl at this end of the track and though it starts as a gentle decline it gets steeper the closer you get to the lake. You are generally following side spurs down towards Lake Rotoiti and they meander through the forest on the way...

On the Loop Track heading down to Lake Rotoiti

There is a thick ground covering of ferns, mosses, and lichen...Nelson Lakes NP

The Loop Track winds down to Lake Rotoiti

About half way to the shoreline you start walking along next to a very pretty stream which runs just off the track on your left all the way to the lake. It is quite a deep stream but has no name...

I thought it looked like a great spot for a camp as there were a number of flats along the stream next to the lake and clear of any larger trees. 

Loop Track...following a spur down towards the lake

A no name stream on the western edge of the Loop Track

A reassuring sight...classic DOC track marker

I could hear boats out on the lake for most of the walk and there are a couple of windows in the tree canopy where you can see down to the lake...

The lake is just visible through the trees...Loop Track

At one point the track goes right down to the stream so I stopped for a break and watched the water cascading over the rocks on its way to the lake down below. It was nice sitting on an old tree and listening to the forest sounds...

I stopped next to the stream for a break...Loop Track

This was weird...I passed a spot of open forest and when i looked around I could see eleven different DOC markers on the trees. DOC workers are generally good when it comes to track marking and try to limit marking so as not to cause visual pollution. 

Gawd knows what they were doing here....

I could see 11 DOC markers from this vantage point...Loop Track

I also passed this old rotted tree trunk on the track...isn't it interesting how it has weathered...it is almost like some surreal sculpture. I especially enjoyed the mini forest taking root on its top...a new generation growing from the old. 

Interesting tree trunk next to the Loop Track, Nelson Lakes NP

Benched track descending down to the Lakehead Track

Eventually the main Lakehead Track came into view down by the side of the lake...for most of its length it is no more than a hundred meters from the waters edge. This is the eastern terminus of the Loop Track and from here you will be walking back to St Arnaud along the Lakehead Track. 

First view of the Loop Track-Lakehead Track junction

...this is the end of the Loop Track..

Back on Lakehead Track once again...Nelson Lakes NP

It was good to be back on flat ground and know that it is just 30 minutes from here back to the end of the track at Kerr Bay. I have passed this section of track many, many times before as I have been up or down the valley over a dozen times over the last decade. I have been to Lakehead Hut eleven times now...behind Packhorse it is my second most visited hut.

Lakehead Hut...my second most visited hut!!!

FYI: there is a short side track starting behind the track sign which will lead you down to the side of Lake Rotoiti. It is worth heading down as you have some fine views of the western end of the lake and across to the Brunner Peninsula. 

There is a side track to Lake Rotoiti behind the sign...

Lake Rotoiti looking back to Kerr Bay

Mt Robert from the shore of Lake Rotoiti

View from Lake Rotoiti shoreline to Lakehead Track

Back on the Lakehead Track I had a snack and water break sitting on a log just off the track. After about 10 minutes (which is as long as I could stand the biting sandflies) I packed my gear and set out once more down the track. From the junction with the Loop Track it is about 1.5 kilometers or 30 minutes walk to Kerr Bay. 

My Vaude Brenta 45l pack at the Loop Track junction

View back up the far end of the Loop Track

This section of track between here and the Kerr Bay carpark is one of my favourites...it is easy track and you know the end of another trip is drawing near. 

...I have walked Lakehead Track over a dozen times now...

There are a couple of similar places like this around the country I have a relationship with...places I have visited often, pass through or remember with affection. Some examples would be the lower swingbridge on the Boyle River, Totoranui, Sluice Box at Lewis Pass, Able Tasman Coast Track causeway, Turkey Flat in the Waimakiriri Valley and the walk from Scotts Beach to Kohaihai to name a few. 

Arriving there means a cold drink, good food and a shower are close at hand...

 Lakehead Track runs parallel to Lake Rotoiti

The pink marker is a pest line off Lakehead Track...

You reach a point on Lakehead Track where you have to climb up, along and over a headland jutting out into Lake Rotoiti. There are a series of stairs and some boardwalk to get you across a muddy section of track...

...there is a climb over a headland on Lakehead Track...

High grass along the boardwalk... Lakehead Track

Sidling along Lakehead Track to the Honeydew Walk

Area of ferns and swamp along the Lakehead Track

 Lakehead Track 100 meters from the Honeydew Walk junction

Jon on the Lakehead Track heading for the end of the walk

You sidle along the side of the headland for a couple of hundred meters until you arrive at the eastern end of the Honeydew Walk. If you wanted to extend your walk by 30 minutes you could head around the Honeydew Walk...it is a very nice short walk across one of the old terraces. you would only be missing a small section of the Lakehead Track.

Junction of Honeydew and Lakehead Tracks...

...Lakehead Track between Honeydew and Loop Tracks...

The St Arnaud Range Track is about 100 meters along the track from the Honeydew Walk turn off. From here you keep following the Lakehead Track back down to the lake side and out to the chaos that is the  Kerr Bay carpark at New Years. 

Back at the start of the St Arnaud Range Track

Flat ground toward the end of the Lakehead Track

On the Lakehead Hut Track near Kerr Bay carpark

Excellent view up Lake Rotoiti to the Travers Valley

The last part of the track is on flat ground on the very nice track near the carpark....

Nearly back at the Kerr Bay entrance, Lake Rotoiti

Back at the Kerr Bay carpark...

From the Kerr Bay dock you can hire kayaks and paddle boards and this is the embarkation point for the Lake Rotoiti water-taxi service. If you are ever heading up the Travers Valley and want to save a day consider using the water-taxi. It covers in 10 minutes a distance that takes 2-3 hours of walking. 

It is expensive so it is best utilised as part of a larger group...to share the cost!!!

Mt Robert and Lake Rotoiti from the start of Lakehead Hut Track

I stopped off at the Bleachyn Shelter at the Kerr Bay Campsite on the way back to the motel as I needed some detail photos of the facilities. The campsite was mostly filled with camper vans and caravans so the shelter was empty even though it was lunch time. 

It is a great wee shelter...I have used every time I have stayed at the campsite.

Bleachyn Camp Shelter at the Ker Bay Campsite

It was a nice walk on the Loop Track and I have now covered all of the tracks on the northern side of Lake Rotoiti. It is worth the effort either as a adventure on its own or combined with the St Arnaud Range Track or Honeydew Track. 

Access: Loop Walk starts and finishes off the Lakehead Track near St Arnaud. Follow Kerr Bay Road or Lake Road off SH63 (Main Road) and down to the jetty at Kerr Bay. Numerous tracks start from this location and branch off the main Lakehead Hut Track. There is a track sign about 600 meters from the carpark for the start of the St Arnaud Range Track/Loop Track/Honeydew Track. 

Track Times: It takes 1.5-2 hours (4.6 kilometers) to cover the full circuit of the Loop Track. 

Miscellaneous: High quality track to start then normal bush track. There are multiple interpretation boards along the route. All weather track but potentially muddy after rain. Very heavy Wasp numbers in spring and summer...

YouTube Link: Loop Track at Lake Rotoiti