The shorter loop walk is 2 km and will take 30 mins; the longer loop goes all the way around the lake being 3 km and taking about 1 hour. The signpost says it takes 1 hr 30 mins, but even with me going slow and taking a ton of photos along the way it was still only 1 hour. It’s a fantastic walk, the views on a still sunny day are just awesome with the reflection of the hills in the water, stunning. This is the perfect walk for photographers!

You won’t be able to ride around the Blue Lake at St Bathans; bikes aren’t allowed.

  • Location: St Bathans, Central Otago
  • Distance: 3 km
  • Time needed: 1 Hour
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Wheelchair Access: No
  • Route: Round Trip
  • Elevation: Unknown
  • Wet Feet: No
  • Toilets: Yes
  • Dogs: Leash only
  • Mobile Coverage: No
  • Last Updated: November 2020

You’ll see more photos further down the page where we’ve detailed the walk in the points of interest sections. If we’ve updated the walk with newer photos I’ve used my trusty Samsung Galaxy Note 10 smart phone, it’s got an excellent wide angle with no photo enhancing needed, just straight from the camera. Older photos will be from Garry’s GoPro Hero 4. Copyright to Freewalks.nz. If you wish to use any photo please ask first. Click anywhere on the photo gallery below to make it bigger.

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We started the walk at the beginning where the car park is right next to the small village of St Bathans. There is a sign telling you what they think is the length, but it’s not quite right, at least the long walk didn’t take me 1.5 hours, only 1 hour. Both the short and long walks begin from here.

I really enjoyed this walk, it wasn’t hard and had excellent views right the way around the whole lake. If you go in the morning when the water is really still you’ll be rewarded with stunning reflections on the lake.

The track winds around the hills and turns into quite a skinny path, be careful to follow the markers. The end of the walk will take you through the car park. Be sure to either take the car or walk down to the edge of the lake. Again, you’ll get stunning reflections on the lake from here too. Bring a picnic and enjoy the wonderful views.

It was such a lovely day, and the reflections were perfect for this short video I took on the lake edge.

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