Our afternoon hike to Roy’s Peak Lookout

16 March 2025

Roy’s Peak is a difficult hiking trail located just outside the town of Wanaka near the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park. It is one of New Zealand’s most popular trails as the view from the Roy’s Peak Lookout is stunningly beautiful!

Roy’s Peak Lookout with views of Lake Wanaka. Mount Aspiring and the surrounding mountains.

We would only hike to the famous viewpoint at Roy’s Peak Lookout which 30 minutes below the actual summit and end of the trail.

Some facts and figures of the trail: Distance: 16 kilometres return (8 km to the summit, 6.3 km to the lookout point). Elevation Gain: 1,258 metres to the summit and 800 to 900 metres to the lookout point. Equivalent to climbing a 300-storey building. Time needed: 6 to 7 hours Type of trail: Out and back. The journey is fairly steep with endless switchbacks.

Hiking the trail is definitely a challenge for us. It is probably not a challenge for my son who had conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Rinjani and also hiked to the Everest Base Camp. It would definitely be a challenge for the two over 60s years of age whose only workout was running after our 12 kg grandson around the house.

Hiking Roy’s Peak trail is on the bucket list of many people. We cannot come to Wanaka and not attempt this challenge. We were a bit concern about our physical fitness and whether we could make it but we took it as a personal challenge.

We arrived at Roy's Peak car park just before 2 pm. It takes just 5 minutes to get there from Wanaka. Although there are 100 spaces available in the free public car park, we saw many cars parked along the side of highway. This is a sign of how popular this hiking trail is and also a sign that public car park was probably full.

We managed to find a space in the car park. I guess some of the morning hikers would have completed their hike and departed.

The entrance to the track is located on the left of the car park’s entrance.

View of the mountain we are about to climb. The end goal is somewhere up there!

The start of the Roy’s Peak track. We need to climb a small ladder over a fence to officially start the trail.

Some section of the trail is on private land, used by farmers for their sheep and cattle to graze on. The track would be closed annually for lambing season from the 1st of October to the 10th of November.

The track fee used to be $2. It had increased from $2 to $5.  We dropped money into the collection box located at the entrance. It is based on the honesty system. We saw a young couple ignoring the fee and just proceed with the hike.

Initial part of the trail with steep incline.

The initial part was steep but we were fresh, so we tackled that part easily. After 30 minutes of toiling up the switchbacks, we saw that we had only ascended a few hundred metres of elevation.

There are some shortcuts across the switchbacks but this would mean a steeper ascend. We, the elderly couple, chose to go with the longer and more gradual route.

Our son taking one of the shortcuts. That was the one and only time he did that.

Took a photo of us after taking the short-cut.

The clay track is a well-maintained and is wide enough to handle the many people on the same track. Sun-screen is a must as the track is on open terrain with no shade. I enjoyed the cool breeze that blew almost continuously with temperature just around 15 degrees C. Occasional gust of wind would kick up some fine dust but our sunglasses protected our eyes.

The views got better as we hiked higher up the path. After an hour of hiking, we were rewarded with fantastic views of Lake Wanaka and also the township of Wanaka below.

After an hour on the track, we get to enjoy views like this.

A rest after 1.5 hours of hiking. The views get better and better the higher we go.

After the initial steep climb at the beginning, the middle section of the trail was slightly flatter but it was still uphill all the way.

Hiking poles really help. Initially I was using one pole and felt one side of my hip feeling a bit sore. My son gave up his pole for me. I found that walking up the steep incline with 2 hiking poles reduces the strain on my lower body.

View of the lake and mountains after 1.5 hours from start.

The hiking poles really made a difference.

After about 2 hours into the hike, we are probably somewhere near the middle section of the trail.

We could already feel a little sense of achievement when we saw the switchbacks we had taken to this point.

Our destination is somewhere there!

The trail gets steeper again nearer to the lookout point. By then, the almost 45 degree incline took its toll on us, the old couple. I had to stop for rests and drinks more often as I felt my leg muscles twitching to almost the point of cramp. It is amazing to see my wife going slow and steady like the Duracell bunny.      

Almost there! We could see people at the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

Up and up we go. Slow and steady with short 30 seconds rest when needed for photos and a drink.

My leg muscles finally cramped when I arrived at viewpoint and sat down on some rocks. The chill of the mountain air and sudden relaxation is a trigger for cramps.

Our journey had taken 3 hours and 20 minutes which was not too bad. We were rewarded with the stunning views that made this hike so popular.

First photo of the Roy’s Peak Lookout. Many people would walk along the ridge to the end for photos.

There is even a long drop toilet at the lookout point.

It was quite chilly once we stop walking. We had to put on our wind proof jackets to keep warm. There is also a drop in temperature up in the mountain at dusk.

Roy’s Peak Lookout is a magnet for photographers and instagrammers. At peak times, there would a queue of people waiting their turns to walk along the ridge to the edge of the lookout point for photos.

There was no queue when we arrived. We took turns to walk down the ridge for photos.

Walking down to the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

The walk along the ridge was a little nerve wracking for me due to the strong wind and my fear of heights. There is also the fear that my overworked legs may give way suddenly.

My wife and I at the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

We told my son to hike to the actual Roy’ Peak summit while we rest at the Lookout Point. It should take him about 30 minutes (an extra 1.5km and 266m elevation gain) but he chose to stay with us.

Sunset at Wanaka is at 7.50 PM at this time of year. After a good rest and shooting lots of photos, we started on our return trip.

The walk down was also challenging due to our aged legs. I would probably just jog or skip down the trail 10 to 15 years ago.

We finally saw some sheep and cows on our way down.

These sheep on the trail moved away once we approached them.

The journey down seemed to take forever. 

The cows giving a stare.

As the sky darkens, we spotted a family of rabbits as well near the bottom.

The sky was a little cloudy, so we missed seeing a spectacular sunset.

Reached the car park after a 2 hours 40 minutes journey down.

We made it back to the car park just in time before darkness sets in. There were only a few cars left in the car park. We had taken about 2 hours 40 minutes to descend from Roy’s Peak Lookout.

We went to New World Supermarket in Wanaka to get ready-to-eat dinner plus groceries for next few days. The supermarket is well stocked. We could buy Korean instant noodles and also roast chicken from the deli.

Dinner was roast chicken and instant noodles back in our apartment. Comfort food after a day on the mountain.

Is the hike up Roy’s Peak worth it? Definitely.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Been there done that!