Fiordland National Park: landscape and origins
The Milford Track is the most famous of the Great Walks – and the only one you may walk in just one direction and only with three booked nights.
Quintin McKinnon and Donald Sutherland opened up the route in 1889 and were soon guiding the first tourists along it. Today it is strictly managed: in season all walkers go in the same direction, spend the first night at Clinton Hut, then Mintaro and Dumpling, and need a booking for every night.
It starts with a boat from Te Anau Downs to Glade Wharf and ends at Sandfly Point, from where a boat takes 20 minutes to Milford Sound. No vehicle can reach either end; transport must be booked in advance.
On day three you climb over 500 m to Omanui/McKinnon Pass and descend 1,000 m to Dumpling Hut; on day four it is 18 km (11 mi) to the early-afternoon boat. DOC does not recommend the track for children under 10.
Outside the season, from May to the end of October, no booking is needed and a night costs NZ$30 for everyone. But then the Clinton and Arthur valleys become impassable in heavy rain, avalanches are a risk, and DOC advises carrying an ice axe, crampons and avalanche gear.
DOC: Milford Track – 2026/27 season, hut fees, bookings ↗
The park in numbers
- Length
- 53.5 km (33.2 mi), one way only
- Duration
- 4 days, 3 nights
- 2026/27 season
- 1 Nov 2026 – 30 Apr 2027
- Last departure
- 28 April 2027
- Huts
- Clinton, Mintaro, Dumpling, 40 bunks each
- Hut, international
- NZ$152 a night
- Hut, New Zealanders
- NZ$106 a night
- Highest point
- pass shelter, 1,154 m (3,786 ft)
- Side trip
- Sutherland Falls, 580 m (1,903 ft)
- Access
- boat from Te Anau Downs, 1 hr 15 min
