The Snout Track
Te Ihu Moeone
The classic Picton walk: along the headland between the two marinas to a lookout, then on to the point.
Lookouts and viewpoints
The best views in Picton
Picton is a town in a bowl of hills at the head of a sound, which means the good views are all above it. Here they are, from a ten-minute drive to a three-hour walk.
Photo: Pavel Špindler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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Lower Bob's Bay Track
Half an hour along the cliffs from Shelly Beach to a bush-fringed bay.
Tirohanga Track
The climb from the edge of town to a hilltop lookout over Picton.
Victoria Domain
200 hectares of bush between Picton and Waikawa, with over 20 km of walking and mountain-bike tracks.
The Link Pathway
Te Ara Tuhono
A 42 km walk-or-bike pathway from Picton to Havelock through the inner Sounds — or just its easy first section.
Queen Charlotte Track
73.5 km of ridgeline and bay from Meretoto / Ship Cove to Anakiwa — walked in 3–5 days, ridden in 2–3, or sampled in a day by water taxi.
Picton Foreshore
The lawn, the palms, the marina and the war memorial — where the town meets the water, and where everything starts.
Motuara Island
A predator-free bird sanctuary in the outer sound — saddleback, robin and kākāriki — with a lookout tower on its 128 m summit.
Meretoto / Ship Cove
Cook's anchorage on all three voyages, New Zealand's first historic reserve, and the start of the Queen Charlotte Track.
Karaka Point Historic Reserve
A headland lookout beyond the Snout on the road to Whatamango Bay.
Anakiwa
The road-accessible southern end of the Queen Charlotte Track, with a car park, shelter and toilets.
Queen Charlotte Drive
The slow, scenic road from Picton toward Havelock and Nelson, with lookouts over the Grove Arm.
Scenic and wildlife cruises
Out into Queen Charlotte Sound by boat — the mail run, Motuara Island, dolphins and seals.
Scenic flights
The Sounds from above — fixed-wing from Picton Aerodrome at Koromiko, helicopters from Blenheim.
Common questions
Where is the classic photo of Picton taken from?
From Queen Charlotte Drive as it climbs out of town past Shakespeare Bay — a short drive, no walking. On foot, Tirohanga Track reaches a hilltop over the town in about 45 minutes, and the Snout Track reaches the Queen Charlotte View lookout in about 50 minutes from the Victoria Domain car park.
Plan by the time you have
Every place on this site carries a realistic time band. Pick the gap you need to fill.