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Ben Ōhau via Greta Track, Twizel

Mark Eaglesfield

Ben Ōhau (1522m) is a mountain on the east side of Lake Ōhau, in the Mackenzie Basin of South Island's Canterbury Region. It is about 30 minutes from Twizel. I did a medium-length hike on the southern (spur) portion of the Greta Track, as opposed to the longer circuit hike involving the full Greta Track. The northern part of the track runs beside Greta’s Stream, and several hikers describe it as muddy, so I avoided it.

Snow conditions are visible from this webcam at Ohau Ski Field. Scroll down to the webcam captioned 'Top of chair'. Ben Ōhau is across the lake at left.

Ben Ōhau is the southernmost part of the Ben Ōhau Range (high point: Mauka Atua, 2557m), which runs northeast to join the Southern Alps next to Mt Cook village. Don't confuse Ben Ōhau with Ōhau Peak (1917m), which is not even in this mountain range. It is on the west side of Lake Ōhau, near where that webcam sits, in the Ōhau Range (no ‘Ben’), and near my Freehold Creek - Point 1966 hike.

Time

DOC estimates that the full circuit hike takes 6-7 hours.

Including breaks, the out-and-back hike took me a little under 5.5 hours. Including breaks, it took me just over 2.5 hours to reach the summit.

Access

There is a narrow gravel access road, not suitable for a campervan. In winter, the road passes through avalanche territory, as indicated by roadside signs.

On the right, there is a dedicated medium-sized parking area. It has rough and sloping ground, so cars with low ground clearance should be steered carefully. The parking area is very exposed to the prevailing northwesterly wind that is channeled across Lake Ōhau by the mountains, so things can get blown out of the car.

Further along the gravel road is the other trailhead, for the much longer circuit hike involving Greta's Stream. It is near this cabin. I don't know if it also has a parking area. A few minutes' walk along the road connects the two.

Route

Screenshots of the NZ topographic map are licensed as CC BY 4.0 by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).

Peakbagging reports that the out-and-back distance is 11km. That’s the route I took. DOC reports that the full circuit is 16km.

From the parking lot, I followed a 4WD track uphill, briefly through trees and then for a longer period through tussock. It passed through a few closed gates, but I saw no sheep or cows, and the topomap shows that the entire route is in public conservation land.

There were perhaps five muddy patches, and this was in summer after several days of sun. I imagine that mud from snowmelt would be a major nuisance at some times of year.

Eventually the 4WD track gave way to a narrower track, still fairly easy to walk along. The track is quite exposed to the prevailing northwesterly wind. At the big, sharp corner around 1130m I exited the track 5 meters or so - near a marker pole (photo #9 in the gallery) - to sit on the south side of the slope. This provided some wind shelter. The place I rested from the wind is not visible from the track. The descent to it is steep, but only for a few steps.

Back on track, I followed the track to the saddle between the summit rise to the south and Point 1387 to the north. This was one of the best places to rest with my back to the sun.

Leaving the track, I ascended through tussock and rocks to the summit, keeping just to the right (west) of the semi-collapsed wire fence that rises directly south from the saddle. Gaiters are useful for this ascent because of speargrass right next to the impact track. The ascent wasn't steep enough to require scrambling (using hands).

Even when the impact track disappeared amid rocks, I was able to find it again a few meters later. Near the summit, I stepped over an east-west fence, also semi-collapsed, which intersected the north-south fence that I had been following.

Later, I saw a couple ascending to the summit from the other (east) side of the north-south fence. They looked weary. Perhaps they hadn't found an impact track, and had improvised an ascent instead. Or perhaps their weariness was more related to the heat.

The summit area is broad but not flat, with plenty of good places to sit down facing away from the sun and the prevailing northwesterly winds. I enjoyed the view of the ranges which separate the Mackenzie Basin from Central Otago's Manuherikia Valley.

There was no shade once I was 5-10 minutes past the parking area.

If 1 is an easy track, and 4 is using hands and feet on exposed rocks, this route is a 2 at worst. The 4WD track is a mix of 1 (when flattish) and 2 (more rutted). The ascent to the summit is a 2 if you choose your steps wisely, but otherwise a 3.

Hunting

The entire route is in a hunting area. Hunters are forbidden to “discharge firearms near tracks, huts, campsites, road-ends or any other public place.” I have hiked in more than 30 hunting areas, and only passed hunters twice - this wasn’t one of those hikes.

Here is the DOC topomap with all hunting areas visible.

Pages about the full circuit on Greta Track

Pages about nearby hikes

Ben Ōhau seen across Lake Ōhau

June scene from around the Ōhau Downs area. Ben Ōhau at right. Mt Sutton center-left. Freehold Creek, part of a hike I did to the remote Point 1966, is probably the valley visible at left. If it is, then the Ōhau Range rises furthest left, with Ōhau Peak out of sight.