Dart River Wilderness Safari

What is the experience?

A one and a half hour Dart River jet boat Safari through the remote wilderness of Mt Aspiring National Park, this magical experience takes you into the heart of Lord of the Rings country. You'll see towering mountains, alpine bush, glacial lakes and icy rivers on this trip – considered one of the most scenic in the world. Following the boat journey, you'll then be guided on a 40 minute walk through ancient beech forests over 80 million years old. Learn about the area and its history before taking a four wheel drive coach on a 50 minute journey to the isolated hamlet of Paradise, home to many Lord of the Rings filming locations.

Where is it located?

Dart River offers picks ups from your Queenstown accommodation or you can drive yourself along the Routeburn-Glenorchy Road (rated as one of the top ten scenic drives in the world) to Glenorchy approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour drive from Queenstown. The Dart River office is located at the Dart Visitor Centre on Mull Street.

Who would enjoy this?

This is ideal for small groups, families and couples who want to venture out and see New Zealand's beautiful scenery beyond beaten tourist tracks.

You might be interested to know:

The first European settlers arrived at the Head of the Lake probably in late 1861 and started sheep farming, this was the beginning of farming for the community which has continued until the present day. While the farming of sheep for wool and meat has always been the main focus of high country farming, cattle farmed for beef and more recently deer farming for velvet and venison have also made their mark on the landscape.