An eventful overnighter, this track goes through forest and alpine terrain, ending at the spectacular and remote Green Lake Hut. By Sarah Nicholson

This challenging 11km hike begins 200m up the road from the Lake Monowai Campsite. It’s marked by a DOC sign that shows time estimates to both Roger Inlet Hut and Green Lake Hut, with the latter being six to seven hours.

There’s a short ascent to start before the track flattens to a boardwalk section and then to a tramping track. The track undulates up and down for the first hour and there can be windfall to navigate, as well as mud. Keep track markers visible throughout this section.

There is a small creek to cross then, after about an hour’s hiking, the track climbs 40m to reach the junction for Rodger Inlet and Green Lake huts. Continue forward on the Green Lake Track.

The track crosses a small plateau north of Pt424 and then dips into and out of a creek before climbing again. It’s steeper from here on as the track briefly heads south and then east again to climb 600m over 5km to the pass between Mt Cuthbert and Pt1411. There are tree roots and creek crossings to navigate, as well as spots where trampers need to haul up banks and over obstacles. Keep alert for the track markers; in some spots there may be more than one path to reach them.

At seven kilometres, just past Pt635, views of Lake Monowai pop through the trees providing a visual reference of how far you’ve travelled. These glimpses only last a few minutes, but are a reward after the challenges of climbing up steep banks and scrambling over tree roots. More manageable terrain follows, with short sections of flat track. 

The track crosses Walker River and then climbs to the pass. A highlight of this walk is emerging into the tussock-filled pass 200m above Green Lake, surrounded by mountains. It’s easy travel here, with solid terrain underfoot and marker poles easily visible. At the edge of the pass is a steep, tree-rooted descent back into the forest. It’s slow going and challenging, but ever closer to the hut.

Nearer to the lakeside, tree roots are replaced with rock underfoot and there are more small creeks to navigate before the track bursts out onto the lake shore.

Green Lake Hut is another 500m away and it is also possible to camp along the shore.