How hard is Te Araroa?
Not technical. Not one brutal day. Hard because it's long, loaded and remote, and it keeps going.
By Nathan Gee, BSc Sports Science, Peaksted coach · 5 min readTrail facts from the Te Araroa Trust
Hard, but not in the way people expect
People ask me how hard Te Araroa is and expect to hear about one terrifying pass. That's not really how it works. Most days are ordinary. The difficulty is doing ordinary days, with a heavy pack, for four to six months, while the weather and rivers decide some of your plans for you.
- Overall: very hard, because of length, load and remoteness
- Any single day: usually manageable for a fit, experienced tramper
- Hardest region: Tasman, the only one the Trust grades hard throughout
- Harder island: the South, remote and rugged with long carries
- Not technical: but you need river and navigation skills
Six things, rated
My rating out of four for how much each one adds to the difficulty.
Where Te Araroa bites
Six multi-day sections the Te Araroa Trust grades hard, and why each one tests you. Swipe through them.
- NorthlandCape Reinga to Ahipara100.6 km · 4 days
Day after day on Ninety Mile Beach, right at the start. Flat, but brutal on feet.
- NorthlandThe Northland forests99.4 km · 4–5 days
Mud, roots and steep, slippery climbs while your body is still adapting.
- WellingtonTararua Ranges43 km · 3–6 days
Steep, exposed tops and fast-changing weather. Often the North Island's toughest test.
- TasmanRichmond Alpine Track95.7 km · 5–7 days
Big climbs, long descents and heavy food carries in remote country.
- TasmanWaiau Pass Track115.5 km · 5–8 days
High, rugged and committing, with an alpine pass.
- CanterburyBoyle to Arthur's Pass112.8 km · 6–8 days
Long remote days, river crossings and a heavy pack.
- About 3,000 km, Cape Reinga to Bluff
- North Island 1,828 km, South Island 1,363 km
- 93 sections across 11 regions
- Four to six months for the full trail
- Tasman: the only region graded hard throughout
See every region on the map on the Te Araroa trek page. Distances and grades are the Trust's and change as the trail changes.
The two islands are different kinds of hard
North Island · 1,828 km
More social, with frequent towns and resupply. The hard parts are your feet on beaches and roads, the Northland mud and the Tararua Ranges.
South Island · 1,363 km
Remote and rugged: alpine passes, rivers and long carries between towns. Fewer kilometres, but more of them are serious.
Who finds it hardest
- Fit, but new to carryingRunners and gym-goers often have the engine but not the pack legs, feet or back for months of load.
- Short on timeWalkers on a tight schedule push through bad weather, sore feet and high rivers. That's where things go wrong.
- Heading straight into the SouthNorthbound walkers start with the remote, hardest sections before they've built trail fitness.
The good news: every one of these can be trained for. That's what the Te Araroa training guide covers.
Hard for whom, though?
How hard Te Araroa feels depends on where you start: your fitness, your experience with a pack and anything that tends to niggle. That's the part we look at with people one to one.
How Peaksted coaching works →How hard is Te Araroa: questions
Is Te Araroa harder than a Great Walk?
Much harder overall, though not on any single day. A Great Walk is a few days on a well-formed track with huts. Te Araroa is months of varied terrain, often rougher tracks, longer carries and real river and weather hazards.
Can a beginner walk Te Araroa?
A beginner can walk sections of it. The full trail asks for solid multi-day tramping experience, navigation and river-crossing skills. Most people build up with shorter multi-day sections first.
Which island is harder?
The South Island. The Te Araroa Trust describes it as remote and rugged, with alpine passes, river crossings and long stretches between towns. The North Island is more social, with more resupply.
What's the hardest part of Te Araroa?
For most walkers it's not one section but the accumulation: months of load on feet, tendons and back. Of the individual sections, the Tasman region (Richmond Range and Waiau Pass) is the only region the Trust grades hard throughout.
The free readiness check takes a few minutes and shows which parts of your body need the most work. Then read how to train for Te Araroa.
- Distances, grades and island descriptions: Te Araroa Trust.
- Difficulty ratings are coaching judgement, not official grades.
