Mt Isobel: Hanmer Springs: 1 May 2014

Climbing Mt Isobel, Hanmer Springs

Recently I was in Hanmer Springs for a holiday during the school term break. Hanmer is great it has thermal hot pools and a multitude of tracks and walks for those who enjoy the outdoors. Because it is only 2 hours north of Christchurch it is easily accessible and a great spot for a holiday. 

Mt Isobel: Gearing up for the trip

I took the opportunity to climb the track up Mt Isobel, a 1300 metre peak which looks down over the township.

Map: Mt Isobel: up Mt Isobel Track, then down Clarence Valley Road

On the Mt Isobel Track

I started up the Mt Isobel Track, this is one of the three ways you can access the summit, the others are from the top of Jacks Pass, and a track from the Hydro-Jollies Pass road. I decided to do a circuit, up the track to the summit and then down Clarence Valley Road to the car park, about 10kms in total. 

Mt Isobel Track end on Clarence Valley Road

Here is the DOC sign at the beginning of the track, it is about 3 odd hours to the summit from this spot.

The start of the Mt Isobel Track

Above and below are views from the car park showing the track and parking area, plenty of space for several vehicles at this point.

Carpark at start of Mt Isobel Track, Hanmer Forest Park

Mt Isobel Track climbing through broom

The track starts through scrub and then transitions into a mixed Spruce/Pine plantation, the trees here were planted in 1904 so are past there prime.

Mt Isobel Track: in the exotic forest

The plantation is very reminiscent of European or Canadian forests, open with plenty of light...there are a few board-walks to ease you over swampy areas.

Board-walk on the  Mt Isobel Track

The canopy gradually changes to your typical beech forest, the track was muddy but in excellent condition for most of the way to the ridge top.

Mt Isobel Track, climbing slowly through beech forest

View of the Hanmer area from Mt Isobel Track

This is the view from my first rest point...because the car park is already 200+ metres higher than the valley the views are expansive. This is the area immediately around Hanmer Springs township, mixed forestry, township and farming.

Hanmer once again from the Mt Isobel Track

A rest spot on the Mt Isobel Track, Hanmer Springs

There are a series of rest stops on the lower slopes of the mountain with seats for people to rest on, they are spaced about every 200 metres or so. As you can see the undergrowth is quite thick along the sides of the track.

Mt Isobel Track: go left to reach Mt Isobel

After a kilometre there is a fork in the track...the main track continues to the right, the track to the left leads to a small viewpoint on a rocky outcrop. This provides a solitary view through the thick bush.

The Organ Range along SH7 from the Mt Isobel Track

Here is a view of Conical Hill from one of the outlooks... Conical Hill is right next to the town and a moderately easy walk of 30 minutes with a great view of the valley. It is one of the 'must do's' while you are staying in Hanmer.

Conical Hill from the Mt Isobel Track

The four photos below are a panning view of the Hanmer basin from about half way up the track.

Hanmer Plain: view towards Hope Valley to west

Hanmer Plain: Hanmer Township and the Amuri Range

Hanmer Plain: view east towards the coast and Amuri Range

We had a bit of snow early in the week (as you will see later), it fell to 1000 metres so all of the hills surrounding the town had a frosting of snow on their upper levels.

Snow on surrounding mountains from the Mt Isobel Track

As you ascend the canopy becomes almost alpine in nature, it reminds me of some of the alpine basins in the higher mountain regions of Arthur's and Lewis Pass.

Climbing the flank of Mt Isobel

Board-walks and single track on Mt Isobel Track

A classic (2014) selfie of Jon from the same location, selfies are the craze of the year!

Jon on the Mt Isobel Track, Hanmer Forest Park

The lay out and extent of Hanmer Forest Park is more apparent from high on Mt Isobel.

Hanmer Forest looking towards east from Mt Isobel

This is the last of the forest on the track, above this point is a classic alpine herb basin, this extends right to the crest of the ridge. The track to the right takes you back down the hill to the Waterfall track and a 41 metre waterfall. (This track is now permanently closed due to damage from the 2016 Waiau/Kaikoura Earthquake, 2019).

Mt Isobel - Waterfall Track Junction

Note the classic alpine vegetation, this would be at 900-1000 metres ASL. The track zig-zag's up the slope from this point until it reaches a track junction at the top of the ridge.

Moving into the sub alpine zone on Mt Isobel

Pt 1195 from the Mt Isobel Track

Summit of Mt Isobel from the track

There were still patches of snow this low down even after two fine and sunny days.

Mt Isobel: residual snow

Eventually you reach the top of the track; as you can see people will walk 4 km's up hill to put graffiti on something. Idiots! To the left is the track down to Jacks Pass, to the right Mt Isobel.

Mt Isobel: on the saddle next to Pt.1195

Below are some shots from the top of the track looking south to Hanmer and Kaikoura and North to the Clarence Valley.

Mt Isobel: to south, Hanmer plains, note township

Mt Isobel: to east, the coast is about 100kms away

Mt Isobel: to north, Clarence River Valley

" I turned around and headed back down.."

Ha ha ha.....climbers joke!!!


The trig station on the Mt Isobel summit is on the centre of the hill to the centre right below. I walked about a kilometre in this direction and then had to stop and come back. There was about 10-12 cm's of icy snow on top of snow grass and tussock. As it was so deep and I didn't have any crampons I decided it was not safe to continue.

 I have been to the summit back in the 90's as part of an Army exercise so I didn't feel the need to take chances. It would be about 1.5 km's from the track junction to the trig, about 30 minutes walking in good conditions.

Looking towards Mt Isobel summit: too much snow!

Here are some views of the Hanmer basin from around the highest point I reached on the track, there is little snow here but down on the track it was quite deep.

You can just see the east coast from Mt Isobel

Waiau River, Amuri and Organ Range from Mt Isobel

Hanmer township from Mt Isobel

Spencer Mountains from Mt Isobel

Mt Percival from the Mt Isobel summit track

As you start to descend the Jacks Pass track there is a short but very steep dirt/scree slope, take care here as I saw a chap ahead of me fall and slide down this slope. It was not a pretty sight.

Luckily he was wearing pants so no rock burn.

Rock slide on Clarence side of Mt Isobel

The track follows the crest of this ridge right down to the road, watch out in misty/windy conditions as there are several points where there are bluffs/ rock faces you could stumble over.

Following ridge down to Clarence Valley Road

Mt Isobel: Pt 1195, from closer to Clarence Valley Rd

Mt Isobel: Lots of snow on the St James Range

Here are a couple of shots of Spaniard bushes (aka: bayonet grass, speargrass, bastard bush etc. it has many names, none of them complimentary). You only get them in tussock sub alpine areas above 900 meters asl, they are bloody sharp so you don't want to fall onto one. There are many varieties the most common in the South Island is Golden Speargrass, Aciphylla Aurea.

I walked into one near Lewis Pass once...it actually stabbed me in the ankle through my leather boot and drew blood!

The barbs atop a Speargrass plant...damn sharp!!!

Golden Speargrass, Aciphylla Aurea

Two views from different points as I descended the track, the scree slope is in the centre-left in the first of the photos.

Mt Isobel: Pt 1195 from my lunch spot

Mt Isobel, about a kilometre from the road

I stopped near the point above and walked off the track to have some lunch, it was a great sunny place for a rest. Here is my lunch, crackers/tuna/raisins and water.....yum!

I usually have tuna or pate with crackers for my lunch, I've found some small cans of French pate that weigh less than 80gms, ideal for tramping.These are nice tuna slices in olive oil....bloody marvellous vittels!

Tuna and crackers for tramping lunch

Great view from my lunch stop!

Mt Isobel with view of St James Range at lunch

The track continues down the ridge line for another 500 metres and then turns to the left towards the road in the centre of the photo. The Rainbow Road (Clarence -Hydro Road) continues right through to St Arnaud in the Nelson Lakes area, the middle part is closed from May-September as they get some prodigious falls of snow in these back valleys over winter.

The Hanmer-Clarence Valley Road

Here is the DOC sign at the Jacks Pass end of the track, this would be the closest access point to Mt Isobel but it would be a bit of a slog up the ridge line to the high point. Short and steep or long and steady, the choice is yours really.

Mt Isobel-Clarence Valley Rd track end

View back up the track from the road/track end.

View up the spur to Mt Isobel

There is a massive amount of parking space next to the track, a lot of people come up to this point and run/mountain bike down to the town. It is a straight road slog from this point onwards.

Car park at the Clarence Valley-Mt Isobel track end

The road descends from this point right down to Hanmer township itself, it would be 4-5 km's from this point to where I parked my car. The road is only closed at the bottom if the conditions are extremely bad up near Jacks Pass. Otherwise you are able to access this road through out the year.

Walking down the Clarence Valley Road to my car

This was a very pleasant wee tramp, the hardest bit is the slog up to the ridge top track, it is easy after that point. I have now walked all three access tracks to Mt Isobel, but would be keen to try a traverse from Jollies Pass to Jacks Pass the next time I am in Hanmer.

This trip took me about 5 hours total, by comparison they run a mountain running challenge along the same track I followed, the best time in 2013: 47 minutes!

Access: From Hanmer Springs head west out of town on Jacks Pass Road, turn on to Clarence Valley road just past the golf course. The tMt Isobel Track starts about 1.5 km's up this road on the right. 

Track Times: Mt Isobel track, 3 odd hours to summit of Mt Isobel, 1.5 hours return to track end on Jacks Pass, 45 minutes to bottom car park.

Miscellaneous: Some fall & rock fall danger. Please exercise caution if walking the track in winter as it is very exposed. Take appropriate gear as required as this is an alpine area.

Bridle Path - Mt Pleasant, Christchurch 360 Trail: 20 April 2014

Gateway to Colonial Canterbury...the Bridle Path

Once again the weather has played havoc with my tramping plans. I had organised to go for a trip to the Arthur's Pass area, unfortunately yet another storm made this impossible. As the weather on the Port Hills was good I decided to do an extended walk closer to home. I walked up the Bridle path to Summit Road and then along and down Mt  Pleasant and back to my car.

Lytellton as seen from the apex of the Bridle Path, Port Hills Canterbury

 The Port Hills are the closest range to the city, they are covered in tracks and routes for walking, cycling and tramping. The "Hills" are visible from all parts of Christchurch and are one of the many reasons this is such a great city to live in.

Map of Bridle path

Here is my car at the car-park at the bottom of the path, the track climbs for 450 metres from this spot up to a road which runs along the crest of the Port Hills.  It would be about 2 kms from the car-park to the summit, following a track which zig zags up the hill side. An alternate is too take the gondola to the summit and then walk down the track, the gondola terminus is right next to this car-park.

The car park at the Heathcote Valley end of the Bridle Path

The first section of the track is quite steep, gradually the gradient eases as you approach the top of the track. This is a popular walking and running route, as evidenced by the number of people I encountered as I walked the track.

Beginning of the Bridle Path in the Heathcote Valley

The Bridle Path is the original route over the Port Hills, it was first used by the early settlers in the mid 1840's. It is quite steep and periodically needs to be repaired due to erosion and general wear.The track was built to transport the settlers and their chattels over the hills from Lyttleton, the closest port to Christchurch.  It has been in constant use ever since.



Information panel detailing history of Bridle Path

Since the earthquakes of 2010/2011 there are significant rockfall hazards on all tracks on the Port Hills. In fact a person was killed by falling rocks on this very track, this is the explanation for the below sign. There are several spots on this track where there are rock cliffs in close proximity to the track.

Rock fall warning on the Bridle Path

You can see portions of the Summit Road as you make your way uphill, this is the closed section of road which runs under the gondola cables. Although most of the road is open there are still sections closed by rockfall from the earthquake. You can see why a lot of debris rolled down here, the volcanic rock of the hills literally fell to pieces.

View towards Mt Cavendish fromthe Bridle Path

The condition of the track is OK, it was a bit muddy from the recent rain but presented no problems.

Muddy Bridle Path Section

There were a number of slips on the track, here a 50 metre section of bank has slid down onto the track.

Bridle path heading for the tracks apex on Summit Road

It was a lovely day for a walk, slightly cloudy and not too hot, it makes a change from all of the rain.

Heathcote Valley and Pegasus Bay  from near Summit Road

Slightly rougher section of the track, it is around this area that a person was struck by falling rock during the February 2011 earthquake. There are low cliffs about a 100 metres above this point, obviously some of the rock cascaded down onto the track. Tragic!

Bridle path, 3/4 way up

An informative sign about 3/4 of the way to the top, it shows the track and a panoramic view of Heathcote valley.

Bridle Path information panel near the tracks apex

There is a great view from the top information board out over Heathcote valley, the view stretches all the way to the Kaikoura ranges and Southern Alps.

Pegasus Bay and Heathcote Valley from the Bridle Path

The bottom terminus for the gondola is to the left centre of this photo. This is the view from the top of the track where it meets the Summit Road.

Christchurch gondola terminus at the Heathcote Valley end of the Bridle Path

A view of Heathcote from the Summit road, there were 10-12 people milling about checking out the scenery.

Heathcote Valley, Christchurch

From the rest area at the top of the track Lyttleton harbour lays spread out below you, the Bridle path continues down into the harbour making a traverse of the hills a possibility. A lot of school groups will walk over the track from the Lyttleton side to Heatcote valley, in fact I did a trip like this in High school. The trip would take about 2 hours in total.

Diamond harbour, Mt Herbert from the apex of the Bridle Path

Here is a closer view of Diamond harbour and Mt Herbert, there is a track which runs right up the middle of this slope all the way to the Mt Herbert Summit.

Diamond harbour, Mt Herbert from the apex of the Bridle Path



View of Lyttleton Harbour from the apex of the Bridle Path

Looking to the south-east you can see Gebbies pass and the ocean near Birdlings flats.

Towards Gebbies Pass from the apex of the Bridle Path

View due North from Summit Road

The Summit track mostly runs parallel to the road, it is poled and runs along the crest, up to the gondola and then onwards along the ridges. Mt Cavendish is the location of the top terminus for the gondola, from there you can follow the tracks to east and west.

View towards Mt Cavendish

Looking back from half way up the hill, you can see the road, shelter on the apex of the Bridle path and the track itself. The Summit walkway follows the road around to the right, eventually you will reach Cashmere and Victoria park.

To the East, summit road and Bridle path

The gondola crosses the road in the centre of this photo, the road has been cleared but is still closed due to the danger of rockfall.

Gondola crossing Summit road

Track to Mt Cavendish, part of the Christchurch 360 Trail

I stopped for a rest at a nice seat near this track junction, you go up to the gondola and right to continue following the walkway.

Track junction, up to Gondola, right to Mt Pleasant

Christchurch gondola top station from the Summit Walkway

Here is a view to the east from the seat at the track junction, the hill in the distance is the crest of Mt Pleasant.

View to East towards Mt Cavendish from near the gondola

Once you reach the low saddle between Mt Cavendish and Mt Pleasant you can follow a farm track or walk along the road. As it was quite muddy I decided to follow the road.

Mt Cavendish, North East side from saddle

The road is very quiet as there is no through traffic, mostly MTB people and rock climbers coming to scale the cliffs near here.  

Climbing summit road, Port Hills

Below are a series of panoramic views of the surrounds from the same spot on the summit road:

View back towards gondola/ Mt Cavendish

View towards South West over Canterbury Plains from near Mt Cavendish

Glorious Canterbury, to the North West from near Mt Cavendish

This is one of the sections of the summit road which has not (and probably never will be) reopened, as you can see a lot of rock fell down during the earthquakes, it is surprising that nobody was injured.

Summit Road: Rock fall as result of earthquakes

View down Heathcote valley from near Mt Cavendish

I stopped for lunch at a memorial seat near the road, it was really great sitting and contemplating the city while I enjoyed my tasty pate lunch. Take lots of water with you if you decide to walk along the Port Hills, as there are no supplies to hand.

Hey folks...Jon eats lunch on the Port Hills!

Tasty pate /cracker lunch near Mt Cavendish

Jon with the 1000 yard stare!

There was a small group of rock climbers plying their trade near the seat, looks like some good climbing if that is your thing.

Rock climbers near lunch spot at Mt Cavendish

Estuary, Mt Pleasant Spur from the Summit Road

View out North towards Southern Alps from near Mt Cavendish

I started back along the road, after about a kilometre you reach the high point on the ridge and can get your first clear view out to the East. The spit of land in the centre of the photo is South Shore, with the long golden crescent of Pegasus Bay stretching away to the north.

I live in a beautiful and remarkable place.

View due East from Summit Road on from Mt Pleasant Spur

View due East from Summit road, Godley Head area.

Long view of Pegasus Bay from Mt Pleasant Spur

I followed the road for about another kilometre, then headed down Mt Pleasant road. Eventually you reach the Heathcote valley, from Ferrymead you walk around the bottom of the hills back to the car-park, this is all on roads and footpaths.

View towards Estuary mouth from Mt Pleasant Spur

It was a great excursion, although I didn't get to go where I had originally planned it was still a good walk (4.5 hours). I will be doing more trips on the Port Hills and Banks Peninsula as the weather tends to be better here when it is raining up in the mountains. There are lots of interesting and moderately challenging trips to be had, and they are really close to home. Bonus.