Backcountry
Beyond the Great Walks — Wangapeka, Travers-Sabine, Dusky Track. Real backcountry routes for experienced trampers.
These three are genuine multi-day backcountry routes with real difficulty gaps between them: pick based on your tramping experience, not just how many days you’ve got free, because the wrong one here is a safety issue, not just a comfort one.
Connecting the Nelson side to Karamea on the West Coast. Once considered comparable to the Heaphy Track; now the quieter, cheaper introduction to a longer backcountry tramp.
Crossing the alpine Travers Saddle (Poukirikiri), which can see snow at any time of year. Right choice only if you’ve already got some rugged-terrain tramping experience.
DOC-graded and widely described as the hardest maintained tramp in the country: 21 three-wire bridges, persistent knee-deep mud, and river crossings that can genuinely strand you for a day or two. Not a track to attempt on a fixed flight-home schedule.