Tips for Hiking New Zealand’s 2,000-Mile Te Araroa

Thirty people attempted a thru-hike its inaugural year. The 2016-17 season saw more than 500 people try it. With the number of hikers on one of the world’s newest long-distance trails more than doubling year after year, chances are you will begin hearing more about Te Araroa.

Even though it may be impossible not to fall in love with New Zealand, Te Araroa is challenging enough to turn away plenty of hikers. The forests are better named jungles. The plant life is more dangerous than the wildlife. Nothing in New Zealand can kill you—not snakes, not insects, not bears. But the plant life will try.

Knowledge is power. Get ready for a diverse terrain of mountains, volcanoes, valleys, rivers, lakes, beaches, and farms. Te Araroa is unlike other trails, but if you had to compare it to America’s top three long-distance trails, it could be called a hybrid of the three.

It has the wet and crazy weather you experience on the Appalachian Trail, the exposure to elements and views you experience on the Pacific Crest Trail, and the navigational challenges you experience on the Continental Divide Trail.

Still, no amount of preparation can equal an open mind.

Learn how to be prepared here…

 

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