Kura Tāwhiti/Castle Hill

From the car park on SH73, pass the carved pou whenua and the shelter and follow the gravel Kura Tāwhiti Access Track west across the tussock to the boulders. At the junction keep left onto the loop, climb the steps among the limestone towers, swing north and east round the top of the loop and come back down to the junction. Return to the car park on the access track.

It is 2 km round with 45 m of ascent; allow about half an hour. The grade is Easy: a gravel track with a few steps.

Keep to the formed track: Kura Tāwhiti is a Tōpuni site, and the land around the boulders is sacred to Ngāi Tahu and home to critically endangered plants. There are steep drops among the boulders, no drinking water, and little shelter from sun, wind and cold. The track gets icy in winter, and snow can close SH73. In Ngāi Tūāhuriri tradition the towers are the body of the ancestor Tāwhitinui; today they are also famous with climbers.

The car park is free but fills from November to April, with no overflow: if it is full, do not park on the highway, come back later. It is about 1 hour 30 minutes' drive from Christchurch and 50 minutes from Arthur's Pass, 3 km before the Castle Hill Village turn-off coming from Christchurch.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.