Lochmara Lodge, Picton

Lochmara Bay has no road access: visitors come by the lodge's scheduled water transfer from Picton, by private boat, or on a 3.5 km trail from the Queen Charlotte Track. Day visitors can use the café and see the wildlife recovery centre and art trail.

On the water
Wildlife
Views
No car needed
Day trip

At a glance

Cost: See lochmara.co.nz
Getting there: Scheduled water transfer from Picton (departs Picton 9.00am, 12.15pm and 3.15pm when we checked); private boat; or a 3.5 km trail from the Queen Charlotte Track, about an hour each way
Address: Lochmara Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound — no road access
Season: Seasonal — the lodge says it has reopened for the 2026–27 season; confirm dates with it
Track pass: A Queen Charlotte Track Land Cooperative pass applies if you arrive via the main track

A weka, a brown flightless rail, standing on a bush track — A weka on the Queen Charlotte Track — bold, flightless and very used to walkers. Pseudopanax / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

About Lochmara Lodge

Lochmara Lodge sits in its own bay off Queen Charlotte Sound. It is accommodation, but it also takes day visitors, who come for the café, the art and sculpture pieces around the grounds, and the wildlife recovery centre.

Getting there is part of the day: the lodge runs its own water transfer from Picton three times a day in season, and says its Picton office is a minute's walk from the council car park at the waters end of Wellington Street. Walkers on the Queen Charlotte Track can also drop down to it on a 3.5 km trail (about an hour each way), and the lodge describes a longer return walk to the Onahau Lookout.

It is a seasonal operation. The lodge closed to visitors for the winter in 2026 and says it has reopened for the new season.