Mt Sunday

Mt Sunday is located deep in the Canterbury high country. From Mount Somers, follow Ashburton Gorge Road. At the Lake Heron turn-off, the road becomes Hakatere Potts Road and continues unsealed through Lake Clearwater and onwards into the upper Rangitata River valley. After crossing the Potts River bridge, the Mt Sunday Track car park is a further 5 km up the valley.

From the car park, the wide gravel track, marked by orange poles, heads across the river flat meadows and scrub. Boardwalks cross boggy sections and a swing bridge crosses the largest of the several spring-fed channels that flow across the northern side of the valley.

The track reaches the base of Mt Sunday, where it begins an 80-metre climb along the hill’s spine to the summit viewpoint. From the top, enjoy panoramic views of the Two Thumb Range, Mt Potts and surrounding rive flats. The Main Divide can be seen at the headwaters of the valleys of the Clyde and Havelock rivers, which converge a few kilometres to the northwest to become the Rangitata River.

Mt Sunday is a roche moutonnée, a rock formation sculpted by glacial action. During the last ice age, the vast Rangitata Glacier filled the entire valley. Today, the valley floor stretches approximately 4 kilometres wide, with the many braids of the Rangitata River continually shifting across its broad expanse.

Return the way you came.