Husky Flat via Blue Lakes

A great alternative to the busy Hooker Valley track, the old Ball Shelter Track to Husky Flat also provides stunning views in the more scenic and quiet Tasman Valley.

Start your run heading up the Tasman Lakes Tracks, then veer left at the DOC sign for Blue Lakes just a few hundred meters in. The first blue "lake" (they're more like tarns) is on a well-formed track, but it takes a bit more matagauri-bashing and route-finding to get to the second two, and then to pop out onto the Ball Shelter Track -- then turn right.

The Ball Shelter Track is a 4wd road, so look out for vehicles and mountain bikes. There are a few bits that are severely rutted that tend to hold water no matter how dry the weather has been, so it may take some care to not get feet wet. The Ball Shelter track gradually takes you up towards Husky Flat, where you get stunning views of the Tasman Lake and glacier terminus.

Husky Flat is your turn-around point; the Ball Shelter Track can be followed all the way back to the carpark. Early on the way back, look out for a small impact trail going up the moraine on your left for an extra bonus view of the Tasman lake & glacier (take extreme care up there).

Note: Past Husky Flat, a severe geography-shifting landslide cut off the 4wd track some years back. Mountain guides have re-cut a route through the slip to get to Ball Hut/Shelter and beyond to Caroline Hut and the Ball Pass route, but it's not exactly runnable. For a more adventurous mission, you can carry on to Ball Hut and back, which will double your KMs and more than double your time, considering how slow-going the travel is past Husky Flat.