Routeburn Track opens May 15 — here's how to prepare

Routeburn Track hut bookings for the 2026-27 season open on Friday 15 May 2026 at 9:30 AM. All hut and campsite spaces for the entire tramping season are released at once, and popular dates sell out on opening day.

Here's how the booking system works, which huts to book, and what to do if you miss out.

For all Great Walk opening dates this season, see our full 2026-27 schedule.

When do Routeburn Track bookings open?

DOC staggers Great Walk bookings across several days each May. For the 2026-27 season, general huts and lodges open May 12, followed by individual Great Walks on their own days.

The Routeburn Track opens on Friday 15 May at 9:30 AM. The Milford Track opens two days earlier on Wednesday 13 May. If you're booking both, you'll need to go through the queue process twice.

The Routeburn season runs from 1 November 2026 through 30 April 2027. Every hut night for the entire season goes live at the same moment. There's no rolling release and no second wave.

DOC confirmed these dates in their March 2026 media release.

How the DOC booking system works

All Routeburn Track bookings go through DOC's online booking system. On opening day, DOC uses a virtual queue to manage demand.

The lobby opens before 9:30 AM. Everyone who joins the lobby is assigned a random position in the queue. This is not first-come-first-served. Whether you join at 9:00 or 9:25, your position is randomised. Once the queue starts moving, don't refresh your browser — you'll lose your place.

There's a key difference from the Milford Track. On the Milford, the system locks you into three consecutive huts — you pick your start date and everything else is fixed. On the Routeburn, you choose your own huts. You select how many nights (1, 2, or 3), then pick which hut or campsite for each night independently. More flexibility, but more decisions to make at the front of the queue. Know what you want before you get there.

What to prepare before booking day

• Register a DOC account now. Don't wait until May 15. Create your account and log in at least once to make sure your password works.
• Do a practice run. Walk through the booking flow on DOC's site before opening day. The Routeburn's hut selection interface is different from the Milford's.
• Pick 3-4 date ranges. If your first choice is gone by the time you reach the front of the queue, switch to your backup dates immediately.
• Have everyone's details ready. Full names of all group members and a credit card.
• Try multiple devices. Open the booking page on your laptop and your phone. Each gets its own position in the queue. For the full multi-browser playbook and more cross-system tactics, see our opening day booking queue tips.
• Decide on your huts in advance. Read the next section, then lock in your itinerary before booking day.

Which huts to book

The Routeburn has three huts along its 32 km route between Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks:

Most trampers do a 2-night trip: night 1 at Routeburn Falls, night 2 at Lake Mackenzie, exiting at The Divide. That splits the 32 km into three roughly equal days.

The 3-night option adds a night at Routeburn Flats first, which makes for shorter days — useful if your group includes less experienced trampers.

You can walk either direction. Most people start at Routeburn Shelter (the Queenstown/Glenorchy end). Routeburn Flats has only 20 bunks, so it fills fastest if you're booking a 3-night trip.

If you're also considering Mueller Hut, see our Mueller Hut booking guide. Mueller Hut opens with general huts on May 12, two days before the Routeburn.

What does it cost?

For the 2025-26 season, DOC charged the following per person per night:

Pricing for the 2026-27 season hasn't been announced yet. Check DOC's Great Walks pricing page closer to May for updated fees.

Transport is separate. The Routeburn is a point-to-point track — the two trailheads (Routeburn Shelter near Glenorchy and The Divide on SH94) are over 300 km apart by road. Bus shuttles run daily during the season. A single leg costs around NZ$60-110 per adult; full loop packages (out one end, back the other) run around NZ$155. Book transport after you've secured your hut booking.

What to do if the Routeburn sells out

Popular dates sell out on opening day. But "sold out" on May 15 is not the end.

DOC's refund policy creates a predictable cancellation pattern. Trampers can cancel on the same day or next day with no fee. People who booked multiple date ranges start releasing the extras within the first few days. After 48 hours, a 10% fee applies if cancelling 15 or more days before arrival. That fee rises to 50% at 14 days out, and 75% within 3 days.

This means cancellations cluster in two windows. The first is right after bookings open, as trampers consolidate their plans and drop the backup dates. The second is around each penalty threshold, as people who held bookings "just in case" decide whether the fee is worth it.

DOC has no waitlist. When someone cancels, those hut nights reappear on DOC's booking system for whoever happens to be checking. There's no notification.

You could check DOC's site yourself, but you'd need to do it repeatedly for months. Schnerp monitors the DOC booking system for Routeburn Track cancellations. You tell us your preferred dates, and we scan for openings. When a hut night becomes available, you get an alert so you can book it before someone else does.

You can set up a Routeburn Track availability request in under a minute.

Quick reference