Knowing about all the different Gillespie Pass Track Transport options might well be an eye-opener to you.
And if you’re on the fence about doing this multi-day hike, a couple of the transport options might well convince you to go and do it.
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THE GILLESPIE PASS TRACK TRANSPORT OPTIONS
1. Self-Driving
2. Buses & Shuttles
3. Jet Boat
4. Helicopter
5. Plane
6. Hitchhiking
1. SELF DRIVING
If you’re planning to self-drive to/from the Gillespie Pass Circuit (full guide) and not use any of the other options below, you’ve got one dilemma. How to get between the section of the track between the two official trailheads that are ~7km apart. Or it’s 11km if you have a car/finish at Blue Pools (there’s no overnight parking allowed at the Blue Pools car park in theory).
Well, you’ve got a few options:
- Keyswap: If you have some other friends doing the hike, you can go in the opposite direction so you both finish in your own car.
- Hitchhiking: You can hitch along the highway to get back to where you left your car. Hitchhiking in NZ is usually a breeze, but you may need to wait a little longer than usual to get a ride here as there aren’t lots of easy places for cars to pullover.
- Walking: You’ve already walked 60km+, what’s a few more.
- Biking: A couple of friends did this. They parked their car near the Makarora Country Cafe then biked to the Young River entrance where they locked them up. After the hike they finished at the car and they went and collected their bikes from there.
2. BUSES & SHUTTLES
There are at least two bus/shuttle options departing from Wanaka that you can use to get to/from the trailhead:
InterCity Bus (not running when I last looked at the InterCity website in early November 2022): The InterCity bus schedules vary, so you’ll need to play around with the dates (and keep in mind any hut bookings you’ve made) to make this work for you.
The two relevant bus stops in Makarora are:
These two locations are 4.5km apart. The MakaroraCountry Cafe is a great spot to get picked up as it’s where the Wilkin River route finishes.
The Lodge location is ~2.5km from the other end of the track so it’s not the biggest walk back to the bus if you can’t get lucky sticking out your thumb. p.s. if you end up going out via the Blue Pools Track, the walk to the bus stop would be about 8.5km.
Shuttle: There’s one shuttle option departing from Wanaka that offers rides to the trailhead. Check out Yello.co.nz to get your quotes. Youo could also see what the pricing might be for Haula.co.nz.
- Reminder:
Makarora doesn’t have cell phone service so you’ll need to make sure you’re right on time for your departure.
3. JET BOAT
A jet boat? Yup, that’s right thanks to Wilkin River Jets you can get an assist into one of the most beautiful hikes in Mount Aspiring NP.
The jet boat can pick you up/drop you off at two destinations:
1. Young River Mouth: This is a 10-minute jet boat ride that costs ~$25 per person. The best way to organise this is to call Wilkin River Jets in advance to make sure they can make things work for you.
Kerin Forks: This is a longer, 30-minute jet boat ride that shaves off about 15km or so walking. In terms of not walking the 15km, it’s the least interesting (and most frustrating) section of the Gillespie Pass Circuit so it’s not a massive miss.
The other people who took this option who took the jet boat did because:
- It makes the gruelling circuit much more manageable distance wise.
- They wanted to spend time in and around Siberia Hut/Lake Cruicible and were taking the boat back too.
The jetboat is about $115 per person (one way) which is a reasonable price. The jetboat does need a minimum capacity though, so if there’s no option to book online, give them a call and they’ll see what they can do.
4. HELICOPTER
The other option Wilkin River Jets offer is a helicopter ride into the Siberia Valley and/or near Kerin Forks (among other spots). You’ll need to call them up to get a quote for this as there’s a fair few variables in play with the helicopter.
How good though! A sneaky helicopter drop-off to an amazing hike.
Another option: You can combine the jetboat and helicopter into this hectic day trip that Wilkin River Jets organises.
5. PLANE
Yeap. Another awesome way you can get access to the Gillespie Circuit transport thanks to the little airstrip in the Siberia Valley.
There’s a few ways you can incorporate the plane flight into your Gillespie Track experience.
1. As a day trip: Like the helicopter/walk/jet boat combo above, you can do a plane/walk/jet boat combo.
2. Overnight: Spend a night at Siberia Hut and you’ll be able to get up to Lake Crucible and catch the jet boat the following day.
3. One way: If you don’t want to deal with the 15km to Kerin Forks, or the 22km to Siberia Hut via the Wilkin River, this plane saves you a lot of hassle. Give Southern Alps Air a call.
6. HITCHHIKING
You can definitely hitchhike to/from the track, but it’s not always easy going. As I mentioned earlier, hitchhiking on the side of the highway in and around Makarora isn’t the best spot to get picked up. You will be eventually though and can even go straight up to the beautiful Brewster Hut Track.
Trying to figure out the best way to organise your Gillespie Pass transport can be as simple or as complicated you like. We kept it simple, but there are definite upsides to incorporating a jet boat and/flight into your experience.
Questions about how to get to there? Let me know in the comments below or email jub@churnewzealand.com and I’ll do my best to help.
Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.
Hi there! My partner and I are thinking of doing the Young Wilkins Hike (ideally in 3 days). We were thinking first day to Young Huts, second day to Siberia Huts, then last day jet boat/fly out. We noticed you said that the Blue Pools carpark doesn’t allow overnight parking which will be a problem? If that’s the case and we choose to jet boat to Young Mouth instead from Makarora, would there be overnight parking allowed at Makarora? Also, if we jet boat/fly out on our last day to return to our car, do you know if it’s possible to hitchhike or pay on the day if we don’t do it in advance? And another question, is it easy to free camp along the track if we can’t book the huts? Thank you so much! 🙂
Hey Jessica,
Sorry I only just got to this. If you wanted, you could park across the road at the DOC campsite and pay the fee (I think it’s $10/night).
There’s plenty of overnight parking spots available in Makaroa that’s allowed. You can pay on the day IF they have space available and the boats/flights are scheduled. But you can also hitchhike pretty comfortably 🙂
I didn’t camp myself, but I think you’ll be more than fine with finding free spots to camp.
Have a blast hiking the Gillespie Circuit. It’s epic.
Cheers,
Jub
Hi!
We tried to do this in March 2021 but it was forecast to rain a lot and we thought it would be a good idea to cancel. Last time we had a rental car.
Trying again for December 2022, but this time cars seem really expensive. Note that InterCity is currently not running a bus to Makarora. They also might be running on certain days only when they get going. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.
Ritchies will get you from Queenstown to Wanaka at some times of day, and then maybe yello will work. I’ve sent them an email to ask.
Hey Patrick,
Thanks for the headsup on the Intercity, they don’t have that listed as unavailable of their website…but I’ve just tried to find available dates and had no luck either.
I’d say Yello could work, maybe you can ask them to invite others along to help reduce costs (you could post on the NZ Hiking Facebook page perhaps). The price of rental cars is super high now which is not ideal, especially as you only actually need to car for two days.