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Southland

View of the Waiau River – View of Balloon Loop loop from Conservation Area - Waiau River

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Hiking trails & Routes

Southland

View of the Waiau River – View of Balloon Loop loop from Conservation Area - Waiau River

Moderate

4.7

(131)

856

hikers

View of the Waiau River – View of Balloon Loop loop from Conservation Area - Waiau River

02:47

10.1km

160m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: July 24, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through protected areas

Please check local regulations for:

Fiordland National Park

Conservation Area - Waiau River

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

278 m

Kepler Track Suspension Bridge over Waiau River

Highlight • Bridge

This suspension bridge is the second official entry on Kepler Track (with that of Te Anau Lake).

This entrance is however more isolated since it is quite far from Te …

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944 m

View of the Waiau River

Highlight • Viewpoint

Beautiful view of the Waiau River

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1.43 km

Balloon Loop is a Waiau River turnoff that literally takes the shape of a balloon. By this detour Waiau River comes to recover the waters of Forest Burn River which come from a multitude of streams of the Luxmore mountains.

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2.40 km

Suspension Bridge in Fiordland National Park

Highlight • Bridge

Pretty shaky business

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3.21 km

Ancient Forest

Highlight • Forest

Primeval forest - Easily accessible

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3.88 km

Spirit Lake Wetland Boardwalk

Highlight • Trail

This wetland is an ecosystem particularly protected by the DOC (Department of Conservancy), hence the log trail. It is absolutely forbidden to deviate from it.

By following it you can branch off towards an observation platform which overlooks Spirit Lake.

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5.12 km

View of Lake Manapouri and the fjords

Highlight • Viewpoint

This beach is accessible on the occasion of a small detour on a charming path under the woods.

Without saying that it is a secret beach, its access outside the …

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8.02 km

View of the River in Fiordland National Park

Highlight • River

You can see the river a little

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10.1 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

9.60 km

305 m

< 100 m

Surfaces

5.64 km

3.96 km

371 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Weather

Today

Sunday 26 July

11°C

3°C

57 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 6.0 km/h

to get more detailed weather forecasts along your route

Comments

January 2, 2024,Etappe vom Keppler Track 1, hin und zurück. Von Rainbow Reach Parking bis Shallow Bay Hut.

Very nice, leisurely tour on the Keppler Track. Easy, good hiking trails along the river, through the forest and wetlands, to 2 lakes. It's worth it.

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February 9, 2024,Wanderung

Easy hike - theoretically can also be done with a (sports) buggy

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March 2, 2024,🇳🇿 - NZ - Teilstück Kepler Track

The first hike in NZ is part of the 60 km long Kepler Track, a circular route in Fiordland National Park. It is one of New Zealand's “Great Walks”.
We chose the section to Lake Manapouri and took a beautiful route. The tour began through a great forest with mountain beech trees (Mountain Beech), surrounded by large ferns at the …

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December 7, 2025,Sonntagsspaziergang zum Lake Manapouri ➡️ kleinster Buchladen der Welt 📚

We were originally planning to go to Luxmore Hut, but the weather forecast (heavy rain and gale-force winds) thwarted our plans.

In the end, it wasn't quite so bad. 😊 The hike through the forest to Lake Manapouri was lovely, as was the visit to the bookstore 📚 at the end of the world. Afterwards, we went to the Takane …

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February 2, 2025,Kepler track: Great Walk 👣Day 4👣(NZ)

Today is an easy stroll through the beech forest, crossing some wetlands and the meandering Forest Burn. Just before arriving at the the bus pick-up, we cross the swing bridge at Rainbow Reach.
It was worth our while to walk to the lake viewpoint, was it for the reflections only 👍

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Our route recommendations are based on thousands of hikes, rides, and runs completed by other people on komoot.

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View of the Waiau River – View of Balloon Loop loop from Conservation Area - Waiau River

Kepler Track Suspension Bridge over Waiau River

View of the Waiau River

View of Balloon Loop

Suspension Bridge in Fiordland National Park

Ancient Forest

Spirit Lake Wetland Boardwalk

View of Lake Manapouri and the fjords

View of the River in Fiordland National Park

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