Lonely Planet Tramping in New Zealand (Walking)

 (9 customer reviews)

This is a great book for planning a tramping trip to New Zealand, although it's a bit too much to carry while actually hiking. The book contains good references and maps to the most popular tracks, and some of the lesser known tracks. If your tight on cash, I recommend going to the visitor centers in New Zealand and picking up the DOC pamphlets they supply. D.O.C. has detailed pamphlets on pretty much every track in New Zealand and they only charge about 50 cents (US) for each one. But if you want to plan a trip from home, this is the book to get, it's far easier to understand than the other New Zealand tramping books, and gives good information on what you need to bring. It also gives good info on the New Zealand back country hut system. Buy a hut pass, they're only 35 bucks (US) for a year. It even supplies some decent fly fishing tips for the rivers that border some of the tracks. But be warned that almost every other tourist hiker in New Zealand also has this...Read more

This edition is far better than the previous editions. It's new organization and additional information sections are a marked improvement. A new section on Flora and Fauna gives a highlight of any New Zealand tramp. This book acts as an excellent reference book while tramping. Of course, if the book contained every piece of required information, (i.e. highly detailed maps and every step of the way instructions) it would require 1000's of pages. The authors surmount that difficulty by including instructions on how to obtain additional necessary information. The book is perfect for those that are looking into or planning a backpacking trek to New Zealand.

If you are going to New Zealand to hike the multi-day tracks called the Great Walks, this is a pretty good guide to them, but is somewhat dated (over 4 years old). What really surprised us on our recent trip is that for the most part you can't do a day hike on many of the famous Great Walks such as Milford, Kepler, or Heaphy. The trails are designed to be one-way multi-day hike trails with a designated start and end spot for backpackers who want to camp or stay in the huts.

There are a couple of locally written hiking books that have good information on 2-8 hour day hikes in New Zealand that let you sample some of the Great Walks that are not one-way routes. One of the most useful is "Day Walks in New Zealand" by Shaun Barnett. It has 100 day treks on both the north and south island with some amazing two dimensional maps and beautiful photos. We used the book on a two week trip to the South Island and found some wonderful hikes from the book in the Milford Sound area...Read more