The climb up Queenstown Hill is a good option for a couple of hours out if you do not feel like tackling the big tracks such as Ben Lomond or scrambling around the Remarkables. Almost the whole route follows a well-formed walking trail.
The only difficulty here is that the trail is fairly steep, especially at the start, and goes uphill almost the whole way, though the gradient is not extreme. Happily, there are no steps or stairs on the track. I walked up here with my parents, and both managed the climb without much trouble. You need to gain about 400 metres.
Finding the start of the track is very easy: there are signs by the car park. I do not have a photo of the start of my own, so here is a shot from Google Maps, though it is fairly simple to get your bearings there even without it.
On the first hundred metres after the start the steep climb feels a little unfamiliar, but you adapt to it quickly. Another three hundred metres on, there is a power-line clearing cut through the forest on the left, and a bench where you can sit down and catch your breath. From here you can see the centre of Queenstown below.
Most of the climb goes through forest. It is mainly conifers, Douglas fir and larch, which were brought in after the town was founded and have spread noticeably since. In summer that is a plus: the forest is fairly dense, it shields you from the blazing sun and makes the climb a little easier.
About a kilometre after the start there is a spot with a mass of small toy houses and stacked piles of stones lying on the ground. Fairies live in the houses.
The fairies meeting place
The houses, coloured little doors, and stone cairns on the slope are known as the Fairies Meeting Place. There is no official history behind it: it has been built up over the years by passers-by, one person brings a figurine, another stacks up one more little tower of stones. The result is a spontaneous forest installation, a nice place to slow down and catch your breath on the climb.
After that the climb is not especially remarkable and fairly monotonous. The forest may shield you from the sun, but it also blocks the views.
Three hundred metres or so past the fairy houses there is a fork: left or right. Both ways lead to the same point and in terms of views they are no different from each other, everything is closed in by trees. The only difference is this: right is longer but the climb is gentler, left is shorter but you have to go steeply up. My advice is to go right: you spend less energy even though you walk further, and on the way back you come down the other way.
If you went right, then after about 700 metres the forest ends and you come out onto the hill where the two trails meet again. On the left you will see a strange art object, the Basket of Dreams. On maps this spot is marked as Queenstown Hill Viewpoint, but the trouble with it is that you cannot really see anything from here, apart from the tops of Cecil Peak and the Remarkables. I do not even have my own photos of this place, because there is not much to shoot. So here is a shot from Google below.
Basket of Dreams
The metal spiral basket, the Basket of Dreams, was put here for the turn of the millennium, in 2000, by the New Zealand artist Caroline Robinson. The idea is simple: a place where you can stop, look at the mountains and the lake, and think about your own things. The plaque next to it reads "Time flies, eternity awaits". Māori call the hill itself Te Tapu-nui, the mountain of great sacredness, and the trail up it that we walked, devoted to the history of the area, is known as the Time Walk. It was laid out for the turn of the millennium too.
Every time I have walked this track, I have noticed that some people finish their climb at this point and head back down. I see no sense in that at all. To take in all the beauty of Queenstown Hill, one last push remains, another 100 metres or so up, to the two viewpoints. There are no trees here any more, so be ready to walk under the sun. This is a vehicle road, but no cars drive on it: most of the hill is private land with a farm, and part of the track runs across it.
The first thing to do after the steep climb is to head slightly right, onto a small hill. From there you can see the Remarkables and Deer Park Heights.
Besides that, from here you can see Cecil Peak, Lake Wakatipu, Ben Lomond, and Queenstown itself.
If you are lucky, from here you can watch planes landing and taking off from the airport at Frankton. It is a fairly mesmerising sight: the plane glides along Lake Wakatipu, threading its way between the mountains.
Landing in Queenstown
Queenstown airport at Frankton regularly makes the lists of the most scenic and the most difficult approaches in the world. It is hemmed into a narrow valley between mountains, so a normal straight approach here is impossible: planes come in on a curved path, literally picking their way between the ranges. Pilots need separate simulator training and a certification, and the approach itself takes several minutes of flying along the valleys and over the lake.
Once you have taken your fill of photos here, you can head to the next point. It will be behind you and is marked on Google as Queenstown Hill Summit. It takes about ten minutes to reach: you need to drop down slightly off the rise and climb back up again.
The views there are more or less the same as before, just a little higher up. At the top you can sit down, have a snack, and watch the planes.
From the car park to the very top you can get up in an hour and a half at an unhurried pace, or in an hour if you are in good shape.
On the way back, for a bit of variety, you can turn right before the Basket of Dreams and reach the fork by the other road, which is quicker.
So, all in all, that is a small report about a small route, one that will suit a great many people of all levels of fitness. I have seen both children and older people on this track. The 400 metres of climbing may sound like a lot, but thanks to the good trail and the shade under the trees it goes fairly easily.