Hike up Botanical Hill

1.5 Miles Round Trip - 482 ft gain - Out-and-Back Trail

Botanic Sports Field - Search Nearby - Added by Deepthi Akilla

The centre of NewZealand hike is a short but steep 30 min hike to the summit of the Botanical Hill in Nelson city. Once you get to the summit, you are greeted with excellent views of Nelson and the Tasman Bay.

The starting point of this hike is the Botanical Reserve in Nelson. Park your car on the Hardy Street East. You can get to the reserve over a footbridge from the end of Hardy street. The Trail head is at the sign (The Kauri track) near the trees, in the north-eastern corner of the Botanical Reserve. It's by the hill. You got to take the Kauri Track (track to the left ) to the summit.

This is a pretty decent hike. It's short but quite steep. I would say give it 20-40 minutes to get to the top, depending on your fitness level and the leisure at which you hike. A straightforward but steep hike. You just have to keep going, and follow the sign to the Centre of New Zealand, as you get closer to the top. It took me 30 minutes to get up there, as I had company and stopped to take pictures in between.

There are a few stairs at this point, to get to the viewing point. There are benches up at the viewing point ,where you can chill and enjoy the wonderful panoramic views of the Nelson, Bay and beyond. I got there a little before sunset, so I absolutely relished the sunset views, with the sky on fire. To get back, you can just back-track in the same way you came up. It would take you less time to get back than your timing to hike up to the summit .

This is a hike well-worth it!