Day 2 · the Clinton valley
Glade Wharf → Clinton Hut → Mintaro
Deep beech-forest walking up the flat Clinton valley, waterfalls braiding down the walls, kea calling above. Ends at Mintaro Hut beneath the Pass — the perfect base for the alpine crossing.
Soul Signature
Exceptional · Glade Wharf → Clinton Hut → Mintaro
Best for a walk that lingers long after it ends — just know that arriving without a car takes planning.
You get a day you will still be describing next year; the cost is that 6 hours and 533 m of climbing rule out small legs.
At its best in first light, the long light of September.
- Soul96 · Exceptional
How deeply the walk stays with you. A walk people plan a year around. Give it a whole, unhurried day.
Stays with people longer than 72% of the 236 walks we've measured.
- 23 km · 533 m of ascent
- 6 h on foot
- serenity 96 · beauty 96
- Serenity96 · Exceptional
How quiet the trail feels — crowds, traffic noise, remoteness. Expect long stretches entirely to yourself.
Quieter than 92% of the 236 walks we've measured.
- crowd-calm 96/100
- long enough to thin the crowd
- Regenerative88 · Strong
Wild ground and low-impact access — how gently you can arrive and walk. Good public-transport access; stay on the marked line.
Gentler on the ground than 26% of the 236 walks we've measured.
- 23 km of mostly natural ground
- trailhead reachable without a car
- Joy & beauty96 · Exceptional
Views, water, light and variety along the way. Continuous reward — allow extra hours simply for stopping.
More generous to look at than 86% of the 236 walks we've measured.
- 533 m of ascent buys the view
- soul 96 · serenity 96
The verdict
Walk this one on your best day
Give it 6 h and start early; the quiet is the point, and it does not survive midday.
Who this walk suits
- Plan it as a full adult hiking day.
- Quiet enough to hear the weather change.
- Reachable without a car — check the station links.
Every dimension is measured from the route's real GPX shape — distance, ascent and time on foot — then ranked against the whole PureSoul library, and read the same way on hiking, walking and running. The chips under each bar are the raw inputs, so you can check the number yourself. Nothing here is sponsored.
Trail at a glance
- Distance23 km
- Elevation+533 m
- Duration6 h
- DifficultyStrenuous
- Serenity96 / 100
Live from OpenStreetMap
Along the trail — water, shelter, parking & food
Points within 1.5 km of the emerald ribbon, sourced live from the OSM community and cached for 30 days so they still appear when you're offline in the field.
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Practical, gently arranged
Great Walks bookings open early May for the following season on doc.govt.nz — literally sell out in minutes.
Only walked south-to-north. All four days flow the same way — no backtracking on this track.
Legendary. Long sleeves, DEET, keep moving. Fiordland's price of admission.
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