The beautiful Valley of the Trolls might be one of my favourite places in the country! It is well worth the detour off the busy Routeburn Track.
Length: approx. 2km from the Harris Shelter on the Routeburn Track
Time taken: 2 hour return (from Harris Saddle on the Routeburn Track)
Difficulty: easy
Facilities: none, closest long-drop toilet is at Harris Saddle
– Important: This route crosses fragile land. It is crucial you follow Leave No Trace principles to ensure this area remains pristine for others. –
How do I get to the trailhead for Valley of the Trolls?
The trailhead for Valley of the Trolls is Harris Saddle on the Routeburn Track. The valley can be accessed from either side of the track, but the access is faster from the Routeburn Shelter on the Glenorchy / Queenstown side.
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR OTHER ADVENTURES NEAR THE ROUTEBURN TRACK, CHECK OUT THESE TRIPS:
Another side trip off the Routeburn Track, this one is a challenging route connecting Routeburn Flats and Lake Mackenzie.
An absolutely draw-dropping valley full of hanging glaciers and waterfalls near Glenorchy.
Valley of the Trolls Route Guide
Matt and I had just climbed over Emily Pass with Hamish and Ashley the day before, and camped high above Lake Mackenzie (it was an amazing trip and one of my most challenging to date, you should give it a read!).
After a half day’s walking from our campsite, we arrived at Harris Saddle and the start of the route to Valley of the Trolls. I’d looked into this valley from the Routeburn Track for so many years, marvelling at its beauty (and its name), but not realising I could visit and soak it in myself. But that was precisely our plan for this trip. I was beyond excited.
We farewelled Hamish and Ashley, who were motoring down to Flats campsite for the night, while Matt and I set off. We were camping in the Valley of the Trolls. Eeee!
How to find the route
The route for Valley of the Trolls is relatively obvious now if you know where to look, even from the Routeburn Track. It follows a DOC trapping line, and has become popular enough that the foot traffic has made it visible from a distance.
From Harris Saddle Shelter, we followed the Routeburn Track for a minute heading up towards Routeburn Falls Hut. There were a few small tarns on our left / north. The tarn closest to the track had a small trail visible next to it. This is what we took to reach Valley of the Trolls. (If you’re coming the other way, the tarns will be on your right, just as you start descending down towards Harris Shelter after the bluffs).
Entering the valley
The track was pretty straightforward to follow, descending steeply down, almost to the shore of Lake Harris. Every time I see Lake Harris from the bluffs on the Routeburn Track its beauty surprises me. It was pretty neat being so close to the water’s edge (even if it was nowhere near warm enough for a swim).
It took us 20 minutes of following the trapping line, sidling around the shore, before we reached the head of the lake and the entrance to the Valley of the Trolls. There were a few spots at the entrance that would have been suitable for tenting in good weather (500m away from the Routeburn Track). The best ones were across the stream coming down from the slopes of Mt Xenicus and feeding Lake Harris.
There was a bit of a breeze being funnelled down from the valley, and Matt and I wanted to camp in THE Valley of the Trolls, so we continued on. After walking up and around some massive boulders, the valley opened up ahead of us. We were here!
The Valley of the Trolls
The valley floor ahead of us was pretty boggy, despite it having been relatively dry weather for the week or two prior. We followed the obvious trapping line through the middle of the valley floor, skirting bogs and deep pools. But in retrospect I’m not sure that this was the right call (more about that at the end of this post).
In any case the track we took was obvious, and navigated the bogs, stream and pools easily. 20 minutes later we were at the head of the valley, next to the waterfall coming down from Lake Wilson. A large boulder (so large you can easily see it from the Routeburn Track) marked our campsite for the night. It provided some shelter from the breeze coming down the waterfall, and also blocked out some of the noise.
Matt and I set up camp, the only people in the valley. (Although I’ve heard this isn’t always the case, especially during weekends in summer). As the evening light softened the cliffs towering above us, I couldn’t keep a crazy grin off my face. We were so lucky to be able to experience this. It felt like home.
Lake Wilson
The impressive waterfall that we were camping next to (the one you can see from the Routeburn Track), is fed by another alpine lake – Lake Wilson, higher than Lake Harris. The plan had been for us to motor up here for a look either in the evening, or early the next morning.
There is a route up the gut to the true left of the waterfall (or to the right when you’re looking at the waterfall from the valley floor). However this was November and there was still quite a lot of snow sitting in the shaded gully. Even though we had crampons and ice axes from our Emily Pass trip, we still weren’t the most experienced with the equipment. And after the 11 hour Emily Pass day, I was quite happy to take it easy.
We left Lake Wilson for another time. But we’ll be back!
The return trip
The next morning we broke camp and retraced our footsteps from the day before back to Harris Saddle to use the long-drop toilet. As we walked, we looked for the bivvy rocks that were meant to be higher up the slopes of the valley, but couldn’t quite see where they would be. I’d been extremely happy with our campsite, but it only had room for one or two tents from the same group – if there were other people in the valley you’d have to tent elsewhere.
It was very odd coming out onto the Routeburn Track (which felt like a footpath) and seeing so many people again. It goes to show that sometimes it doesn’t take much effort or time to get away from the crowds into the backcountry!
From Harris Saddle, we walked the 14 or so kilometres out to the Routeburn Shelter and our car. We’d booked Routeburn Flats campsite to stay in that night, but in the end just continued on for the extra two hours to the carpark.
Emily Pass and Valley of the Trolls was an absolutely amazing trip. One of my all-time favourites. I will definitely be going back, hopefully to see Lake Wilson. It might be my favourite place in the whole country.
Our impact on Valley of the Trolls
Valley of the Trolls is an extremely fragile area. Anyone visiting needs to do their part in protecting the environment for future visitors and generations.
Leave No Trace
If you’re a tramper and you’re not familiar with the Leave No Trace principles – WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? Just kidding (kind of). If you’re a responsible tramper you’re probably already following many of the principles without even knowing.
But it can’t hurt to have a read up and educate yourself further – we all want to keep these places as pristine as possible! Check out the Leave No Trace website here.
My Impact
Initially I wasn’t going to write a blog post about this place (even though I don’t agree with gatekeeping in the outdoors). I viewed this decision as one of the ways I could protect Valley of the Trolls from increased awareness, which often comes when beautiful places are talked about on the internet or social media. There has been some controversy about how popular Earnslaw Burn has become for example.
But then we met some day hikers who’d been recommended Valley of the Trolls as a nice day trip from Routeburn Falls Hut by the DOC ranger there. If DOC is recommending Valley of the Trolls as a side-trip from the Great Walk, and Wilderness magazine is publishing articles about it, then it’s only a matter of time before people stream into Valley of the Trolls. In one of the tramping groups I follow on Facebook (with almost 50,000 members), there were 11 posts solely about Valley of the Trolls in 2021.
So I thought, perhaps I could write about this place (which is already out there for people who look), but make sure that anyone who read my post would appreciate the need to protect this fragile place. I’m far from perfect. I would love for you to do better than I did.
For example, by following the established path into Valley of the Trolls, we minimised disruption to untouched ground. But at the same time this path went directly through some of the most fragile areas of the valley. As more and more people continue using it, it’ll become an eyesore right through the middle of the valley and damage the area further. Perhaps it would have been smarter to head around the side of the valley on more sturdy ground? But then we would have been creating another track, damaging more terrain that had been relatively untouched prior.
I’m still not sure what the right answer is. What are your thoughts? If you know of a better way, then please let me know and I’ll edit this post.
Safety
As always, please stay safe when you’re out exploring. Follow the Outdoor Safety Code:
- Choose the right trip for you (read my article, read other blogs!)
- Understand the weather
- Pack warm clothes and extra food
- Share your plans and take ways to get help
- Take care of yourself and each other
Stay safe and get outside!
Where to next?
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I love hearing from readers and helping them plan their own adventures!