HIKING THE BREAST HILL TRACK

The Breast Hill Track is a beast of a track. From the trailhead to Pakituhi Hut it’s only 4.2km long, but the elevation gain is close to 1000 metres. If you’re not familiar with elevation, it’s steep!

But the views are epic! And Pakituhi Hut is in a beautiful spot. You can do get do the Breast Hill Track in a few different ways too. As an out and back trip (overnight or day hike), part of the Te Araroa Trail, or as part of a bigger circuit connecting to places like the Grandview Mountain Track.

This post will give you all the details you need to know about the Breast Hill Track.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Details About Hiking The Breast Hill Track
2. Breast Hill Track Map
3. How To Get To The Trailhead
4. My Experience Hiking To The Breast Hill Track
5. Photos From Areas Beyond The Hut

1. DETAILS ABOUT HIKING THE BREAST HILL TRACK

How hard is the Breast Hill Track?

It’s certainly not easy given the incline, but it’s a rewarding hike. As long as you give yourself ample time to get to the top, it’s so worth it (and have a good weather window). There are some technical sections where if you’re afraid of heights you might not be loving life.

It’s also important to consider the descent which some may find trickier, especially if it’s wet. And if your knees aren’t the greatest, they won’t love coming back down.

On the DOC sign towards the start of the track, it mentions not to attempt this track in winter. I’d be happy doing it in winter provided the weather is decent and the snow level isn’t too low. But if you’re an inexperienced hiker, you should heed this advice.

How far is the Breast Hill Track?

My Strava record measured 4.20km from the trailhead to Pakituhi Hut (the DOC site says 4km), making for a 8-9km return hike.

You’ll want to do some side trips most likely, at least to Breast Hill which is about a 5.5km return hike from the hut. You can comfortably do this in a day with an early start, but try and stay there, it’s one of the best overnight hikes near Wanaka.

What is the elevation gain of the Breast Hill Track?

We’ll start with the Breast Hill Track elevation profile:

There’s a sign at the trailhead that mentions there’s 950 metres of climbing up to the hut, which is about right as my Strava recorded 980 meters.

There are only a couple of sections where you descend on the way to the hut, so there’s no real break from the hike until you get to the top.

What’s Pakutuhi Hut like?

Awesome! This hut doesn’t have a fire and is a simple 8 bunk hut, but sits in a little valley and manages to get direct sunlight most of the day. It’s surprisingly warm in my experience. It’s a great hut to base yourself from if you want to explore the area for a few days.

Your Backcountry Hut Pass is valid at Pakituhi Hut, or you can buy hut tickets at the following prices:

• Adult (18+ years): $5/night
• Youth (11–17 years): $2.50/night
• Child/Infant (0–10 years): free

There’s no cell phone reception at the hut, but if you head back up the track for a couple of hundred metres you’re back in range.

How long does the hike take?

This is going to vary a lot given the steep terrain. The DOC site mentions 3-4 hours which is on the generous side I feel. It took me exactly 90 minutes to reach the hut with my 30 litre overnight pack

I suspect most people will take between 2 and 3 hours to reach the hut, including breaks. Coming back down will be slightly faster for most people.

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2. BREAST HILL TRACK MAP

*clicking on the image below opens the map in a new window.

The map above shows the GPX file of the route to Pakituhi Hut. The trail is well marked though, so you don’t need a topo map necessarily (I wrote about my favourite). The trail can be found on Maps.me which is an offline map app great for hiking.

3. HOW TO GET TO THE TRAILHEAD

The Breast Hill Track trailhead is here on the Timaru Creek Road. The easiest way to get there is by car, parking next to the road. It’s a 23 minute and 23km drive from Wanaka, or a 10 minute drive from the Lake Hawea township.

If you’re staying in Lake Hawea, it’s a nice walk/bike to the trailhead following the trails along the lake.

4. MY EXPERIENCE HIKING THE BREAST HLL TRACK

I’ve been up the Breast Hill Track a few times now and love the challenge it brings. It’s close between this and Corner Peak as to which is my favourite Lake Hawea hike.

The trailhead is very low key with no massive signs or formal carpark. Once you’re on the trail though, there’s no low key start as the incline goes up from the get go on singletrack.

It’s a funny start as you know you’ll be going up most of the way, but you can’t see Breast Hill from the start (well I couldn’t see it). For the first 300 metres you’re going up in a straight line before you hit a series of switchbacks which quickly see you gain elevation.

There are some spots on the switchbacks where the trail erodes a bit, but it’s not ankle breaking territory for the most of it…these go on for about 1km. You get some sweet views throughout of the lake and surrounding mountains including Isthmus Peak, love it.

After the switchbacks the terrain gets more rocky and you might find yourself looking for the orange route markers in a couple of spots. It’s a nifty section again and the views you’ll get are amazing in all directions.

After the 2nd kilometre you might feel like the track is flattening out a little bit. That’s true, and there’s some moments where you hop down a little section and/or walk a short flattish part of trail, but overall you’re still gaining elevation quickly.

Then then last kilometre until you get to the ridgeline is a good amount of climbing, this time the rocks can make some sections quite tricky to figure out the best line to take…and would be way harder with any ice or moisture on them.

Once you cross the stile over the fence you have a short section of incline before you sidle for a little bit. At this point you’re only a few hundred metres from Pakituhi Hut which you can’t see until the very end.

You’ll see the sign pointing you towards Breast Hill, but I recommend heading to the hut first for a wee break and refresh before contemplating sidetrips. Or just chillout while waiting for the sunset.

At the hut do write your details in the intention book, even if you’re there on a day hike.

And the way back down…

Hopefully you’ve got some blueskies and no ice around as the track looks like it’d be super tricky to come down at some points if it rains. I had awesome weather and find the descent pretty crusiey…but there’s a certainly a couple of points where you’ve got to focus on where your feet are going and which line to take.

In theory you should be a bit quicker coming down, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some people took longer hiking down than up (depending on breaks etc).

5. PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE AREA BEYOND THE HUT

As I mentioned earlier, you really should explore some of the tracks and ridgelines near the hut, and if you want a big day, go north following the ridge towards the Corner Peak Route. Breast Hill is my favourite! Here’s a few other photos from around the area.

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I love the grind of going up steep inclines for a few kilometres, and the best part about this incline is you aren’t even in the bushline so you get views from the get go of the beautiful Lake Hawea.

Then once you’re at the top you’ve got Pakituhi Hut which is usually quite warm after receiving the sun most of the day you’ve got options like a few different ridgelines to explore. What’s not to love about the Breast Hill Track as a day hike or overnight trip?

If you’ve got any questions about the Breast Hill Track, drop a comment below or email jub@churnewzealand.com.

p.s. For the super keen, you could do the double Breast Hill Track and Mount Maude in a day. Your poor quads won’t like that.

OTHER HIKING POSTS NEARBY

Awesome walks in Wanaka

You’ve got no shortage of options here.

The Brewster Hut Track

What an amazing hike close to Haast Pass.