The Remarkables are an eye-catching mountain range near Queenstown, Otago, South Island. I once got there by a long hike from Gibbston… but paying $10, driving up to the parking lot, and doing some short hikes was a lot easier.

• Lake Alta, a small lake beneath the high peaks (Dimrill Dale in a Lord of the Rings film)

• Shadow Basin Lookout, for an excellent view over Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown.

Time

DOC estimates 1 hour 30 minutes return to Lake Alta. AllTrails users report an average of 1 hour 19 minutes.

AllTrails users report an average of 2 hours 4 minutes return to Shadow Basin Lookout.

Route

Round-trip, AllTrails reports an elevation gain of 204 meters over 3.4 kilometers on the Lake Alta Track. Similarly, for Shadow Basin Lookout, 367 meters over 4.5 kilometers.

There is a $10 toll near the foot of Remarkables Ski Field Access Road. I can’t see it on Google Street View. It is probably next to the lower parking lot. Paying the toll allows you to drive up the long, winding road to the upper car park, just below the ski field. In winter, there are ski field shuttles - and I wouldn’t be surprised if private cars are not allowed up.

Unless there is snow on the ground, it is easy to see the various gravel tracks which start above the main ski field building. The Lake Alta track can grow muddy as snow melts.

Shadow Basin Lookout was one of the windiest places I have ever been. I struggled to take photos. There is a metal fence to grasp. The prevailing winds blow visitors back from the edge (away from the fence), not toward it.

If 1 is an easy track, and 4 is using hands and feet on exposed rocks, I give these tracks a 2.

Lake Alta

Shadow Basin Lookout

Other pages about these hikes:

• https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/remarkables-conservation-area/things-to-do/lake-alta-track/

• https://www.alltrails.com/trail/new-zealand/otago/lake-alta-track

• https://www.alltrails.com/trail/new-zealand/otago/shadow-basin-lookout

• https://hikingtheworld.blog/2019/12/23/shadow-basin-lookout-the-remarkables/

• https://aliceadventuring.com/lake-alta-surrounds/

Additional Remarkables hikes

• my traverse from Gibbston over Mt Salmond and Upper Doolans Creek basin to the Remarkables

• https://hikingscenery.com/queens-drive-wye-creek-circuit-the-remarkables/

• https://hikingscenery.com/queens-drive-wye-creek-circuit-autumn/

• https://www.entrancedbywilderness.com/the-remarkables-and-wye-creek/

• https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/tag/wye-creek/

Other

• https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/lord-of-the-rings-locations/

• https://www.theremarkables.co.nz

The Remarkables seen from below