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Crown Peak, Arrowtown

Mark Eaglesfield

Crown Peak is a long hike accessible on foot from Arrowtown, Otago, South Island. Walking access to it and to Brow Peak was the main thing I valued about my stay in Arrowtown. But I also appreciated the town’s autumn foliage, surprisingly reminiscent of New England in the United States.

Brackens Saddle is circled in magenta.

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

You can remember the difference between Crown Peak and Brow Peak based on their names: Crown Peak is topped by a crown-like rock formation, while Brow Peak looks something like a forehead, I guess. (Make sure not to confuse Crown Peak with nearby Coronet Peak, best known for its ski field.)

Time

AllTrails users reported an average of 7 hours 9 minutes.

Including breaks, this hike took me around 9 hours.

Route

Round-trip, AllTrails reports an elevation gain of 1162 meters and a length of 17.5 kilometers.

Park beside O’Callaghan Park in eastern Arrowtown. The trailhead is the bridge across the Arrow River, which runs along the east side of town.

Once across the river, ascend Tobins Track, rather than following the Millennium Walkway along the river. From the top of Tobins Track, follow Glencoe Road around the southern slopes of Mt Beetham, then walk across a field to access Brackens Saddle Track. At Brackens Saddle, the track uphill to Crown Peak is apparent.

On this fairly thorough map of Arrowtown-area tracks, Tobins Track is 14a/14b, Brackens Saddle Track is 13, and Crown Peak Track is 16a. (16b is an alternative, shorter, but more challenging off-track hike to Crown Peak.)

Parts of Brackens Saddle Track were narrow and rough. These parts are often in shadow, because the track lies in a deep valley. Jumping across a few minor streams on that track was no challenge. The other tracks were easy.

If 1 is an easy track, and 4 is using hands and feet on exposed rocks, I give this one a 3 on the narrowest parts of Brackens Saddle Track, but a 1 on Tobins Track and mostly a 1 on Crown Peak Track.

Mt Sale (farthest left, behind/above cloud) and Crown Peak (left, with light snow on top) seen from my Brow Peak hike

That may not be sufficient to ID them. So, there is also a small cloud sitting on the ridge between Mt Sale to the left, and Crown Peak to the right.

Other pages about this hike

Pages about hikes to Crown Peak from Crown Range Road (the eastern route)