So glad we made time to do this!

The hike is hard going and rocky but is varied enough and if you are an experienced hiker is perfectly manageable. In between the lush green passages with various creatures making noises you scramble over waterfalls and slip zones, jump streams, cross suspension bridges suitable only for one person at a time and can take time to briefly laze by the river.

We stayed in the Sierra room, a little more luxurious with electric lighting and our own space to chill out and cook together.

The view from the hot pools over the mountains topped with snow was just beautiful. Yes there are sandflies - but where in NZ other than indoors are there none?

Highly recommended if you can spare the two days and enjoy hiking. I've come away with brilliant memories and fantastic pictures.

Reviewed almost 7 years ago and experienced in February 2017

The hike was wonderful despite raining the entire way in.

The hut was spacious and comfortable. Scenery around the hut was splendid. And soaking in the hot pools during a cold rain was amazing. The only reason I rate this a 9 and not a 10 is because of the several creek/river crossings that required either taking our boots off or slipping on wet rocks. We were prepared for difficult. But when we saw "easy tramping" on the trail head sign, we didn't expect what was delivered - NOT an easy tramping trail. We've done a lot of hiking/mountaineering on rough terrain at high elevation. I would rate this more as "easy" for elevation gain and "moderate" for ease of tramping.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Great track with interesting always changing hiking parts (bridges, river crossings, rainforest, alpine area).

Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in February 2016

Very nice location of the hut.

Hot pools were really cool. Expected to have more views of the landscape on the way to the hut. A bit sad it was a lot of forest that covered the view.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

So glad we made time to do this!

The hike is hard going and rocky but is varied enough and if you are an experienced hiker is perfectly manageable. In between the lush green passages with various creatures making noises you scramble over waterfalls and slip zones, jump streams, cross suspension bridges suitable only for one person at a time and can take time to briefly laze by the river.

We stayed in the Sierra room, a little more luxurious with electric lighting and our own space to chill out and cook together.

The view from the hot pools over the mountains topped with snow was just beautiful. Yes there are sandflies - but where in NZ other than indoors are there none?

Highly recommended if you can spare the two days and enjoy hiking. I've come away with brilliant memories and fantastic pictures.

Reviewed almost 7 years ago and experienced in February 2017

We had a pretty terrible experience at the Copland Track in late January.

As a bit of background, we are both big hikers and have done a lot of better hikes in New Zealand like Mueller Hut (1 day), Abel Tasman Coastal Track, Routeburn, etc.

As most reviewers have said, the Copland Track hike itself is long, muddy, and requires a bit of scrambling. This was actually the most fun aspect of it. The hike to Welcome Flat is long and monotonous. It's the same forest view for miles and miles. You have a brief moment where you're trekking beside the river which is fun. There are also 2 nice barbed wire bridges that are wobbly and exciting. But these two exciting moments only combine for about 1 hour of an otherwise boring 6 hour hike (one way).

Once you get to the hot springs, you will find that they are infested with.. you guessed it.. sandflies! Even if you put on deet or other bug spray, expect to get 30 new bites on your face or any other parts of your body that are exposed above the hot springs. There were about 10 people in the Welcome Flat Hut while we were there, and we only saw about 5 people in the hot springs including ourselves. Of the 5, we stayed in for around 15-20 minutes because of how horrible the sandflies are. Maybe it would have been better if we wore one of those bug net hats or held one of those candles with our hands while in the hot springs.

Before you go on this hike, think about it: do I want to spend 14 hours of my life and acquire 30 new sandfly bites to hang out in hot springs for 20 minutes? There are much better overnight hikes and day hikes in New Zealand where the actual hiking is fun and the scenery is beautiful.

Oh if you're staying in the Welcome Flat Hut, hang your food up or else you will be woken up in the middle of the night by the resident mice.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Nice walk (but the weather was not good enough to continue to the Saddle and that would have given better views and a higher score).

Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in February 2016

A beautiful place.

Moderate increase at the end but worth the effort. Near the hut there are hot springs with amazing views of the mountains.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

5-7 hour hike to Welcome Flat Hut.

Nice views along the way. The track is not very steep. The hut has natural hot pools where you can relax, while looking at the mountains.

Reviewed over 8 years ago

Just stunning rainforest along the track, fun bridge crossings and adventurous parts.

The hot springs were amazing after a long day walking! The track needs some maintained but is not a problem if you are in good health.

Reviewed almost 9 years ago

Interesting track with lots of change in terrain, rocks, sand, waterfalls.

Rewarded with natural hot pools at the Hut. A worthwhile hike.

Reviewed almost 9 years ago and experienced in January 2015

Amazing!

Excellent track: good views most of time, not very steepy (at least in the beginning), and in the end great hut and incredible hot pools!!! Really worth doing it! If luck of good weather you will enjoy it twice!

Reviewed almost 11 years ago

Nice forested walk, well maintained, great views of mountains and rivers.

Pretty ideal to have hot pools at Welcome Flat Hut.

Reviewed over 11 years ago and experienced in March 2013

Lovely bush opening out to stunning river and mountain views.

Amazing natural hot pools at Welcome Flat Hut. Lots of birdlife.

Reviewed over 11 years ago

Nice track, but if you don't have excellent knees, it's a hard one.

Around 7h to the hut and 7h back the next day. The hut is great, and so are the hot pools. Almost everyone goes there when they arrive and leave the next morning. We went to the pools in the morning, before we left, and there was nobody :)

Reviewed over 11 years ago and experienced in October 2012