Conical Hill Walk

Conical Hill Walk - Hanmer Forest

Conical Hill Walk

Hanmer Forest

5 Rankers Reviews

5 Face-to-Face

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Marios Gavalas

Author And Researcher

Nau mai, haere mai

Nau mai, haere mai

I'm Marios, delivering the best of Aotearoa's nature walks to your device.

I've personally walked hundreds of New Zealand's tracks and spent months in libraries uncovering interesting information on New Zealand/Aotearoa. And you'll find a slice of that research on this page - enjoy!

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Photos

Views from Conical Hill

Information

Conical Hill Walk

3 km return | 1 hour return

A climb through exotic forest to Hanmer's premier lookout.

Early this century Conical Hill was covered in tussock. Later a zigzag track was cut to reach the 550-metre summit with its magnificent view. A variety of exotic trees replaced the tussock – western hemlock, Lawson’s cypress, giant fir, Japanese cypress. Atlas cedar and laburnum are some of the more common species. At the summit a lookout offers a resting place and good shelter to view the Hanmer Basin. A plaque commemorates the work of Duncan Rutherford, an early settler who helped develop the Hanmer district. The track down from the summit on the other side meets up with Pawsons Road, which leads to Woodland Walk.

Walking Track

Access

The track starts from the signpost from the top of Conical Hill Road. Follow the main drag through the town to get there.

Track

The hairpins climb steadily through exotic forest on a vehicle track to the shelter, viewing platform and summit (549m).

Geology

There are 360 degree panoramas looking to the Hanmer Range, Amuri Range (North) and the Lowry Peaks Range.

A sizeable shelter and orientation plaque name the notable peaks.

Details

Feature Value Info

Organisation

DOC Canterbury

Central government organisation

Location

South IslandCanterburyHanmer Springs

Categories

  • Activity__walking_and_trekkingWalking
  • Free

Directions

To Coordinates

Coordinates

-42.5152213764995

172.828761839867

Latitude
-42.5152213764995
Longitude
172.828761839867

Nearby

Reviews

    • Relatively easy uphill walk.
    • Quite a difficult walk as it was very steep.
    • Pleasant, well-maintained walk.
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  • 3.5/5

    Very short hike through the forest to a beautiful lookout that gives you a good impression of the town and the area.

    Nice mountain view and peaceful birdsong.

    Reviewed almost 7 years ago

  • 3.5/5

    Pleasant, well-maintained walk.

    Very easy and great views at the top.

    Reviewed over 9 years ago and experienced in January 2015

  • 4.0/5

    Quite a difficult walk as it was very steep.

    Not long (30 minutes) and the view brilliant. Worthwhile doing.

    Reviewed over 9 years ago and experienced in December 2014

  • 4.0/5

    Well marked, 1-2 hour walks through mainly introduced woodland - gentle and enjoyable.

    Reviewed over 12 years ago and experienced in November 2011

  • 4.0/5

    Relatively easy uphill walk.

    Great 360 degree views.

    Reviewed almost 14 years ago and experienced in April 2010