Harbour walks, from the Bridle Path to Mount Herbert

Lyttelton Harbour is a drowned volcano, and walking it means walking its rim, its slopes and its shoreline. Almost everything is steep. The reward is that even a short walk gives you a view across the water to the hills on the far side, with the port working away below.

We have arranged these from easiest to hardest. Distances and times are approximate; the best current track maps are published by the Christchurch City Council and the Department of Conservation, and both are worth a look before you set out.

The seaside walk: Lyttelton to Corsair Bay and Cass Bay

The gentlest walk in the harbour starts at the western end of the Lyttelton waterfront and follows the shore towards Magazine Bay, which takes its name from the stone powder magazine built above the shore in 1874. From Magazine Bay the track runs through regenerating bush and pines and drops down to Corsair Bay in about a quarter of an hour. The first stretch is wide and well formed, and buggies can manage it as far as Corsair Bay.

Corsair Bay is a sheltered swimming beach with toilets and a playground, and it is where many Lyttelton families spend summer evenings. Beyond it the track climbs into the pines, gets narrower and steeper with steps in places, and comes out at Cass Bay after another twenty minutes or so. Cass Bay has a beach, a playground and picnic spots, and the track carries on towards Pony Point.

This shoreline section is part of the Head to Head Walkway, a long-term project to link the harbour's coast from Godley Head to Adderley Head. Some sections exist and others are still being built or upgraded, and stretches can close for repairs, so check the Head to Head Walkway page for what is open.

Good for: families, a swim, a summer evening. Allow one to two hours return to Cass Bay.

The Bridle Path

The colonists' route over the hill is still the most direct walk between Lyttelton and Christchurch. It climbs about 350 metres from the end of Bridle Path Road to the crater rim, then drops into Heathcote Valley. It is steep and exposed, but short. We describe it in more detail in our getting to Lyttelton story, including how to do it one way with the bus.

Good for: history, a solid workout, the classic view of the plains from the rim.

Along the crater rim and the Summit Road

The Summit Road follows the tops of the Port Hills, and walking tracks run beside and below it for much of its length. From the top of the Bridle Path you can walk along the rim in either direction, looking down on the harbour on one side and the city and the plains on the other. On a clear day the Southern Alps line the western horizon.

The road and its reserves exist largely because of Harry Ell, a Christchurch politician who in the early twentieth century campaigned for a scenic road along the summit with walking tracks and rest houses. He died in 1934 before the vision was complete. The Summit Road Society, formed in 1948, still looks after several reserves along the hills and carries on the work of planting and protecting them.

Rocky outcrops along the rim make good turnaround points, and you can make loops by combining rim tracks with the many spur tracks that drop towards the harbour. Parts of the hills were badly damaged by rockfall in the 2011 earthquakes and by the large Port Hills fires in 2017 and 2024, so some tracks have changed, been rerouted or closed for long periods. The council's track maps are the best guide to current routes.

Good for: big views for modest effort if you drive to the top first.

Godley Head

Awaroa / Godley Head is the northern head of the harbour, at the eastern end of the Port Hills. It is wild, windy and spectacular, with cliffs that drop around 120 metres to the sea. A Second World War coastal defence battery was built on the headland in 1939, and its gun emplacements, tunnels and buildings are considered among the most important coastal defence heritage sites in the country.

You can drive up via the Summit Road, or walk out from Taylors Mistake along the coast and loop back over the tops. The Department of Conservation looks after the headland and there is a campground there. Keep well back from the cliff edges, which are unfenced in places, and hold on to small children and dogs. Godley Head and its harbour defences will get their own story later in the year.

Good for: wild coastal scenery, military history, watching ships come in through the heads.

Mount Herbert / Te Ahu Pātiki

The big one. At 919 metres, Te Ahu Pātiki / Mount Herbert is the highest point on Banks Peninsula, rising above Diamond Harbour on the southern side of the harbour. The Māori name honours an ancestor associated with the Āraiteuru canoe, and the dual name was confirmed in the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998.

The walk to the summit is a full day, climbing steadily through farmland and tussock with long views over both Lyttelton and Akaroa harbours from the top. Most people approach from the Diamond Harbour side (take the ferry across from Lyttelton to start) or from the Kaituna Valley via the Packhorse Hut, where the route joins the multi-day Te Ara Pātaka track along the peninsula's summits. Allow five or six hours return from Diamond Harbour, longer if you are not used to steep climbing.

There is no water on the route except at the huts and the summit shelter, so carry plenty. Weather on the tops can change fast, and it can be cold and clagged in on the summit when the harbour is sunny. Some routes cross private farmland and close in late winter and early spring for lambing; check before you go.

Good for: fit walkers with a whole day, the best view on the peninsula.

Weather, fire and other things to know

• Wind. The harbour swings between a nor'easter that blows up the harbour and a cold southerly that can arrive with little warning. A sunny morning is no guarantee of a sunny afternoon on the tops. Take a windproof layer on any walk above the waterfront.
• Heat and fire. Hot, dry nor'westers in summer make the Port Hills tinder-dry. Tracks and reserves close during periods of extreme fire danger, and fires are never permitted. Check fire restrictions in summer.
• Rockfall. Some areas near cliffs and bluffs remain closed because of rockfall risk since the earthquakes. Obey closure signs; they are there for good reason.
• Mountain bikes. Many Port Hills tracks are shared. Keep left and listen out on corners.
• Water and sun. Most harbour walks have little or no water and little shade.

If you want a gentler day, combine the seaside walk with a swim at Corsair Bay. If you want a big one, take the early ferry to Diamond Harbour and climb Te Ahu Pātiki. Either way, our visitor guide has more on the bays and how to fit them together.