Wonderful Walk
Something for everyone, and their dog, with stunning Canterbury views in all directions.
A hike to Mt Thomas summit in Canterbury.
Canterbury is well known for its far-reaching flat plains and the long straight roads that crisscross them, but flanking it are the mighty mountains. In the foothills of the Southern Alps lies the Wooded Gully picnic area in the Mt Thomas Forest Conservation Area. It’s where a network of tracks begins, ranging from family-friendly one-hour loops to full-day hikes where dogs are welcome on lead. As well as being the starting point for these walks, there is also a standard DOC campsite.
We were heading for the Mt Thomas summit and there are a few routes that will get you there. We chose to take the Wooded Gully track on the way up. A well-formed path leads you into and through the beautifully cool beech forest. The intensity of the walk slowly develops to include climbing up and over roots and rocks. Being a walk to a summit of 1023m elevation, there are of course uphill sections. These are (mostly) relatively short but they are frequent and I needed to take a few breaks to revive my quads, which were doing the lion’s share of the work. The majority of the ascent is through the sheltered forest with a handful of easy stream crossings where our dog could have a drink and cool off in the water and we could cross without getting our feet wet.
At a little over the halfway point, where the track intersects with Bobs Camp Biv route and the Ridge track, we sat down amongst the trees and refueled ourselves with a packed lunch. While we crossed paths with a good number of people doing various other walks that cross over with the Wooded Gully track, the further up we got the less of them we saw and no one came by as we ate.
After our pit stop we continued on for a short time along the Ridge track until we broke through to the snow line. The contrast from being in the protection of the trees to this open saddle was stark. On either side of the track there were mānuka bushes, hardy grasses and mountain flora that survive in this landscape that experiences temperature and weather conditions on both sides of the spectrum. The day we were there it was very dry with temperatures in the high 20s but in winter it could be covered in snow.
This section is an easy flat walk with the summit in view up ahead. The view stretches for miles across the gridded Canterbury plains in one direction and in the other carpeted hills in the foreground with the Southern Alps beyond. Once at the summit you can add to that list the view of Banks Peninsula off in the distance.
To return to the starting point, you can go back the way you came or take the shorter but more extreme Summit track. We chose the latter. Exclusively downhill and without much cover this was challenging in places where there are sections of steep gravel slopes. We were thankful we hadn’t chosen to come up this way, uphill it would have been relentless. As we descended further, the track got friendlier as we walked through pine forest.
Back at the picnic area we took off our shoes and refreshed our feet in the clear running water of the campsite’s Wooded Gully stream.