Our fourth national park in New Zealand, the Fjordland National Park, occupies the southwest corner of New Zealand. It is the largest national park in the country, and it is where we’ll be spending the next four days just scratching the surface of this vast and beautiful landscape. Before checking into the Te Anau Lodge (previously a convent in its former life), we made a bee line for the Lake Marian trail.
Again no distance information, but we estimated 4 miles round trip.Swing bridge across the Marian creek.Marian creekEasy paved path leading up to the viewing platform a half mile in.This is where you’ll find most people milling about.A series of small, but loud and powerful water cascades.Past the second viewing platform is when the real hike begins.There are some straightforward sectionsBut the majority of the trail is more or less technical, with an elevation gain of 1,400 ft over 1.5 miles through the hanging valley.Long legs are a plus, but I make do with what I’ve got.We made it above the tree line and to the lake in under an hour and a half.Lake Marian is an alpine lake surrounded by Mt. Christina, Mt. Crosscut, and Mt. Lyttle that make up the Darran Mountains.The lake is fed from a cirque atop the Mt. Crosscut peak.
This was a short but really fun trail to do. So far, none of the trails in New Zealand have disappointed, but then again I am very particular when I pick out my hiking paths.
FIRE'd @ 47 
Looks like a good one to me too….we’d enjoy that
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