Slaughterhouse Creek walk is a continuation of the Waterfall Creek Walk.

This is my favourite walk in Wanaka. The views along the walk are spectacular. The track follows the lake shoreline with small elevations and rest stops along the way for stunning photos. Just a short five minute drive from downtown Wanaka.

You get great fantastic views of Lake Wanaka and Mt Aspiring national park along this medium walk. At this time of the year, Mt Aspiring, Mt Edward, Black Peak and Mt Fog Peak were covered in snow. This is also the beginning of the Glendhu Bay Track Walk and the end of the Waterfall Creek Walk.

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Quick Facts about this walk

•  Location: Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand
•  Distance: 1.5 km
•  Time needed: 1 Hour 15 Minutes
•  Difficulty: Medium
•  Wheelchair Access: No
•  Route: Double back
•  Elevation: 278m
•  Wet Feet: No
•  Toilets: Yes
•  Dogs: Leash only
•  Mobile Coverage: Yes

Summary points about this walk

Walk Highlights

Today we could see Mt Aspiring, Mt Alta, Mt Edward and Fog peak.

Track Quality

The track is very good, but there are two steep sections to walk up.

Hazards

Today we had blue skies, but the wind was very cold.

Water

No water to drink, so take your water with you. The only toilets are at Waterfall Creek Car Park

Driving Instructions

To get to the start of Slaughterhoue walk. You can drive out of Wanaka on the road to Roy’s Peak walk and treble cone ski field for five minutes, till you reach the Ruby Island Road on your right. Or you can walk from downtown Wanaka and around Lake Wanaka water front, through to Waterfall Creek walkway then carry on to Slaughterhoues Creek walk.

Area & Trail History

You can walk your dog along here so long as you take a lead and pick up your poo.

Map Location

Points of interest along the walk​

Lake Wanaka Slaughterhouse Creek
Lake Wanaka Slaughterhouse Creek
Slaughterhouse Creek

Millennium Walkway

You are now on the Millennium Walkway to Glendhu Bay, but you do not have to walk 2 hours 30 minutes today, just 40 minutes.

Native tree Plantings - Slaughterhouse Creek Walk
Native tree Plantings - Slaughterhouse Creek Walk
Native tree Plantings - Slaughterhouse Creek Walk

Native Trees

Around the Wanaka Lake walkways, you will see plantings of young native trees. The blue plastic 209 litre water drums are self-fill, so you can pick up a bucket and spend a few minutes watering the trees on a dry hot day. The chicken wire around the young native trees are to try and stop the hungry rabbits from eating them down to the ground. A name tag on a few of the tree would help us walkers as too what we are watering and make the walk a lot more interesting.

Look Out
Slaughterhouse Creek
Look Out

Look Out

At the top of the second small climb there is a very good look out. Take a couple of minutes and enjoy the view. This is the best point to look down on to Ruby Island.

Wanaka Lake - Slaughterhouse Creek
Wanaka Lake
Turn off to Slaughterhouse Creek
Slaughterhouse Creek
Side track to main Road - Slaughterhouse Creek Walk
Slaughterhouse Creek Walk

Slaughterhouse Creek

There is nothing to see of the old slaughterhouse, but you can walk down to Wanaka Lake edge and dip your toe in the freezing water, or let the dogs have a drink before we return to the car. As you can see along this walk there are thousands of rabbit scratching and rabbit dropping. Out of the dozens of time we have walked this section we have not seen one live rabbit. The dogs have not even put up one rabbit. So don’t count on having a rabbit for dinner on this walk, better luck in town. The side track you will pass on the left will run back out to the main road. You could take this track and walk back along the main road to the car.

SAVE 40% on last minute tickets on the Wanaka Jet Boat Ride.

See more of my walks in Wanaka