Oteake Conservation Park
Name |
Oteake Conservation Park |
Location |
Naseby |
Co-ordinates |
1382018 5016692 |
Alternative co-ordinates |
1362245 5023906 |
Configuration |
Network |
Distance |
60 km |
Status |
On-leash |
Grade |
Easy-Severe |
Access |
End of Mount Buster Road, ca 6 km NE of Naseby; access also possible from end of Home Hills Run Road (10 km E of St Bathans) and Hawkden Runs Road (7 km N St Bathans) |
Description |
A range of tracks of differing length and difficulty, offering unique access to a vast area of tussock grass, rocky outcrops and wetlands. One of the best dog-walking areas in New Zealand. For the easiest walks, head for the Homestead Camping Site and follow the valleys up to one of the Omarama Saddles, and make a loop of it if you want. |
Connecting tracks |
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Further information |
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Oteake Conservation Park provides some wonderful walking, suitable for anything from a few hours to several days. Once you're in the park, its all dog-friendly, though on the way in through farmland you need to keep your pets in the vehicle. Several of the access routes are also only really suitable for 4WD, since they involve multiple river crossings and some rough terrain. Be warned, also, that much of the park is wild country, with no water supply and little shelter: so go prepared.
One of the easiest areas to access is Mount Kyeburn (photo, right, and route blue 6 on the map). This can be accessed up the gravel road to Dansey's Pass. From there you can do a relatively easy half-day walk along an old 4WD track, up to the top of the mountain, and can also continue on to Buster Hut - and from there get access onto the main area of the park. Less easy is the access to Little Kyeburn (routes blue 4 and red 8 on the map, and photo below), for the track in includes a couple of river crossings, but the landscape in some ways is more impressive. When I tried it at Christmas 2019, the walking track up the Little Kyeburn valley was somewhat overgrown, but my daughter-outlaw (or whatever she she should be called) was due to go out there for DoC a couple of weeks later to clear thje vegetation - so it's no doubt a lot better now! But if you don;t want to battle the undergrowth, you can follow the 4WD track up the western ridge. And again, once you're on the tops, you have access to the rest of the park. 
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A third option is to head for Homestead campsite, via Hawkdun Runs Road (gravelled, but with no serious river crossings). From there, it's a lovely walk up Boundary Creek (photo below) to the first hut, then on if you want to Top Hut. Beyond that, you have access to the Omarama Saddle, at 1273 metres or, confusingly, the Little Omarama Saddle which is another 84 metres higher. There's also access by gravel road to this side of the park from the Dustan Ranges, just south of Omarama (see map). But whichever way you go, remember the warning: this is wild and open country.
Click on the map to zoom in |