Access

The track is signposted 5 km from Springs Junction along SH7, direction Lewis Pass.

Head to the end of the gravel road and the camping area with toilets.

Track

This formed tramping track has most streams bridged. Occasional treefalls, one unbridged stream (in normal flow you should be able to use stepping stones to avoid wet feet) , many boardwalks and a bit of mud.

The track is a gentle and steady climb through dense beech forest, following the Alfred River to a high alpine lake.

Troll Bridge is the half-way mark to Manson Nicholls Memorial Hut, where there is a jetty and toilets.

Geology

At Marble Hill campground there is a concrete wall constructed in the 1960s, right on the Alpine Fault. The idea was to establish a datum for measuring displacement following seismic shifts.

Lake Daniell occupies a glacially eroded hollow between the Alfred and Spencer Ranges. It used to be called Lake Daniells, but the NZ Geographic Board changed the name in 2007.

European History

The hut was built in 1976 by Christchurch Tramping Club & Lake Daniells Fishing Club members. It is named in honour of Phillip Nicholls and Brian & Sharon Manson, who were killed by a landslide in 1974 while sheltering in the old hut on the opposite side of the lake. A fourth member of the party - Bonna Beattie, managed to row and crawl to summon help, but despite her injuries, was too late.