Hotels near Tiki Trail

The Tiki Trail is the busiest walking track in Queenstown and the only climb in this guide with a built-in escape hatch. It runs 2.1 km from the end of Cemetery Road, beside the Skyline Queenstown gondola base on Brecon Street, up through pine forest to Bob's Peak at 790 m, gaining 480 m of elevation. Reckon on an hour up and 40 minutes down, so 4.2 km and roughly 2 hours return. Skyline grades it moderate to hard, and the steep, root-crossed sections near the top earn that grade.

For a solo hiker the appeal is the finish rather than the climb. The top is a staffed complex with toilets, drinking water and a cafe, and one-way gondola tickets are sold inside - so if a knee goes, the weather turns, or you have misjudged the light, you ride down instead of descending a steep forest track in the dark. Reception is at full strength the entire way because the summit carries broadcast infrastructure. The Ben Lomond Track continues from Bob's Peak, and it belongs in a different category: 14 km return, 1,438 m of gain to a 1,748 m summit, rated advanced, with the section above Ben Lomond Saddle at 1,326 m unmaintained and carrying steep drop-offs. Read the Department of Conservation track page before you consider that one alone. Ben Lomond is the step up from this list, not a solo warm-up on it.

Pro Tip: Buy the one-way gondola descent at the top complex rather than pre-booking a return ticket, and start climbing no later than 3pm in June or July. Sunset in Queenstown is around 5:10pm in mid-winter and the pine forest on the Tiki Trail goes dark well before the sun actually drops.