The Department of Conservation's (Doc) 40-minute loop walk, 25km from Glenorchy, is ideal for families with young children or people who are not fit or mobile enough.
The Routeburn Track is one of New Zealand's Great Walks and provides one of the main gateways to the Mount Aspiring National Park, linking with Fiordland National Park.
Doc estimates 60,000 people a year visit the Routeburn Rd end, of whom between one-quarter and one-third are New Zealanders, and predicts a high percentage of this number will use the day walk.
At the end of the Routeburn Rd, there is a car park and day shelter with toilets, seats and new, detailed interpretation about the track.
From the shelter, cross the swing bridge to the nature walk.
It goes to Sugarloaf Stream and back, and is gravelled.
It passes through a beautiful area of forest dominated by red beech/tawhero, interspersed with occasional mountain/tamauka and silver/tahina beech.
New panels are about to be installed on the walk giving information on long-tailed bats/pekapeka, insects, fungi and plenty of native birds on the track including fantails/piwakawaka, tomtits/miromiro, bellbirds/korimako, riflemen/titi pounamu and the rare mohua/yellowhead, kaka and yellow-crowned parakeet/kakariki.
You will also be able to learn about threats to wildlife in the forest such as stoats, weasels, ferrets, possums and rats and what Doc is doing to control their numbers.
See www.doc.govt.nz for more information on Doc walks.
