Castle Hill

Park at the Hogsback Trailhead in Castle Hill Village. Follow the Hogsback trail by staying to the right at both upcoming "Y" intersections. Once you reach the bush edge, Long Spur and Mt Cloudsley come into view. Break off from the trail aiming for the toe of Long Spur. Then climb along the crest of the spur until you reach the summit. Return the way you came.Also a great ski touring route!

Follow the Hogsback Track until you reach the clearing just after the Waterfall Creek crossing. Hike through the clearing towards the toe of Mt Cheeseman's east ridge.Work your way up the ridge by linking a network of tussock slopes, ledges, scree slopes snow patches and crumbly rock. Eventually you will reach the second, lower summit. Carefully navigate the final ridge to the summit, it can be...

Follow the footpath from the car park. You will quickly arrive at Castle Hill, famous for it's incredible array of giant limestone formations. There is no official path so you are free to wander the maze of rocks. Look for arches and even signs of ancient Maori inhabitants. Its fun to climb among the beautiful boulders but be careful it could be very easy to get yourself stuck or even fall.Cast...

Being a cloudy and gray day in Christchurch, we decided to pack the bikes up and drive the 100kms on SH73 up to the Craigieburn Forest Park. There are several entrances to the tracks. You can either park up in the Castle Hill Village and enter the Hogs Back Track from there, or park in the Broken River Skifield or Craigieburn Ski Field Road. If you have a smartphone you can download the Craigie...

The hiking trail first ascends a hillside to about 1,500 meters. It then follows the crest of a ridge in a southwest direction until you reach the "trig", a marker used in geographical survey. The maintained track ends here but hikers wanting more can continue traveling cross country to Rabbit Hill. Return the way you came.In winter this trail makes for an ideal snowshoe route. The terrain is n...

Park in the gravel roadside parking area at the highpoint of Porters Pass. Follow the faint use path up the lower scree slopes of Foggy Peak northward towards the summit. Upon reaching the summit of Foggy Peak the alpine traverse to Castle Hill Peak becomes obvious. The hike between the two peaks is one of the best in Canterbury, a barren alpine ridge varying in width from one to a few hundred ...

Park at the Craggyburn Valley Trailhead for a longer, more scenic hike, or continue driving to the Ski Field Parking at the road's end.The trail follows the true right bank of Craggieburn Valley as it climbs through a thick and scenic beech forest. After an hour it reaches the bush edge just short of the ski field. From this point follow a network of unofficial boot packs, trails, access roads ...

The Foggy Peak trail is an unmarked path leading from the carpark at the top of Porters Pass to the summit of Foggy Peak. The clouds can get very low here so be sure to bring a GPS or be knowledgeable in the mountains. From the carpark just duck under the fence and head on up to the top. The way is very easy but can be slippery in snowy conditions. The trail starts off relatively steep before f...

Round trip about 5 hours including stops to enjoy the views and take pictures, it was a perfect day hike in the full sun compared to the rest of the park. The track starts out by heading uphill, and it doesn’t really stop until you get to the saddle. The first hour of the track is all through beech forest, offering a beautiful wander amongst all the moss and the plentiful little streams and wat...