The Sawpit Gully Track is an 8-9km loop walk with the trailhead right next to the Arrow River on Arrowtown’s doorstep.
The walk will take most people 2-3 hours and offers some great views of the surrounding hills/mountain and Arrow River while providing a good little test of your fitness.
This post will give you all the details you need to know about the Sawpit Gully Track (along with plenty of photos).
Proof I’ve been on the Sawpit Gully Track
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DETAILS ABOUT THE SAWPIT GULLY TRACK
Rating?1
The Sawpit Gully Track is not a walk that’s often mentioned given there are so many walks in Arrowtown and Queenstown. But for a walk that’s less than 10km, this would get great reviews in most of the world. There’s some incline, variety of views, easy to follow path, and it’s super easy to access.
Given there are higher summits in the area the views aren’t going to be OMG-worthy (like Ben Lomond) but they’re pretty solid (the above photo is pretty sweet).
When2: October 2020
Difficulty3: Easy – medium
Hike Distance4: My Strava recording came in at 8.10km< (starting from the edge of the car park). This is the same distance that Maps.me has below, so expect to walk at least 8km.
Incline5: Strava recorded 383 metres of elevation. All of the incline if on the way up, with the German Hill summit ~780 metres above sea level.
Hike Duration6: It took me 1 hour and 54 minutes to complete the loop (reasonably quick hiker). That was with no long stoppages, besides a view minutes to take in the views. The signs were indicating the loop to take 2-4 hours. I’d put aside 2-3 hours for the vast majority of people.
SAWPIT GULLY TRACK MAP
On Google Maps you won’t find the Sawpit Gully Track, but the above screenshot is from the Maps.me app which does.
The track is pretty easy to follow with signs at the points where you need to turn off. That said I always have a glance at Maps.me during the walk to see what progress I’m making and confirming I’m on course.
HOW TO GET THERE
If you’re staying to do lots of Arrowtown activities, the trailhead (essentially the track starts at the car park closest to the trail) begins right on the edge of town and is easy to walk too.
But Arrowtown is a popular day trip for those staying in Queenstown, so you might be arriving by car or bus.
I’ll break down these two options below, but here’s a full post on how to get to Arrowtown from Queenstown.
CAR
From Queenstown, Arrowtown is about a 20 minute and 20 kilometre drive.
From Cromwell, Arrowtown is about a 40 minute and 45 kilometre drive.
There’s lots free parking by the trailhead here. If the car park is full, you’ll need to find some streetside parking which is free from what I could tell.
BUS
There are regular buses from Queenstown to Arrowtown which only cost $2 each way with a Bee Card (it’s free to get one at the time of writing).
When arriving in Arrowtown, you’ll get off at this stop and walk the 500 metres or so to the trailhead.
You’re catching the #2 bus. You can see the timetable here.
MY EXPERIENCE ON THE SAWPIT GULLY WALK IN ARROWTOWN
After catching the bus to Arrowtown, I walked down towards where a lot of the tracks begin from in the Arrowtown area, including the Sawpit Gully Track.
I was a little bit confused as there were no massive signs. But it was just a matter of following the Arrow River until you see the little footbridge below.
You can walk the track in either direction with the anti-clockwise direction (turning right after the footbridge) the most popular. This does mean a slightly steeper descent, but it’s pretty close either way. Getting the views of over Arrowtown coming down the hill is nice.
Once you turn right you’ll see a large pipeline, you’ll want to cross over this and follow along the track (go left in the picture above).
For the first 1.5km or so you’ll be on a very small incline as you track the Arrow River. You see the river enough as you walk along the well-maintained trail. You also walk past a little cascading waterfall.
When you come across a signboard with all the trails on it, turn left. This is where the incline begins, going up the hill with a few viewpoints on the way. The colour of the river is awesome when the sun is reflecting on it. Is it the gold in the river that’s doing this?
The climb is quite steep for 600 metres or so before it begins to flatten off following a stream.
What I didn’t expect was the track crossing back and forth over the stream at least five times. I managed to avoid getting wet shoes thanks to some well-placed rocks. If there’s been some recent rain, you might end up getting a little wet. It’s not a dangerous at all.
You’re still moving uphill along the stream but it’s at a friendly gradient. The views now are mostly looking towards the hills in the distance north of Arrowtown. But don’t forget to look back from time to time, they’re good views back that way too.
With one final river crossing, the track takes a quick incline before flattening off as you round the side of German Hill.
You’ll see the trail that turns off left to the German Hill peak.
The climb to the peak is pretty steep, but the views are totally worth it. 360-degree views are almost always worth it right? There’s plenty of spots where you could park up for a picnic on top if you wanted.
Take the path back down the peak the way you came, you’ll then continue on the main track again… don’t head to Big Hill. It’s all downhill from here! You’ll get a few more minute’s worths of views towards Arrowtown, but I was most eager to figure out when I was going to hike up towards Brow Peak that looks over to you from the west.
The track is a little steep going down for the next couple of kilometres (with one more stream crossing) as you get back down to a river which you’ll more or less be following the rest of the way. You’ll know you’re nearly there once you start walking next to the pipeline again 🙂
Considering Arrowtown is known for its activities in town, the Sawpit Gully walk is a great way to add in a few hours to make a full day in Arrowtown worthwhile.
RECOMMENDED READING
Heaps of things to do in New Zealand
Not that you’ve got enough ideas already…
Mount Crichton Loop Track
If you like the Sawpit Gully Track, you’ll like this similar walk close to Queenstown
Common NZ slang
If you see some hikers on the trail, throw some slang at them 🙂
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.