The first Great Walk, the Milford Track, has been causing great frustration after the 2023/24 season went on sale this morning.

The three-night tramp from Te Anau to Milford Sound has been called the “world’s finest walk.” It might also be the most hotly contested for a space.

The demand this year even briefly crashed the Department of Conservation booking website, with users reporting outages between 9.30 and 11am.

With only 120 bunks available daily along the 53.5km trail and no camping allowed, space is limited. Last year the season was full in three minutes.

This year there were limited spaces still available three hours after opening, as booking issues slowed down the process.

“We expect 6000-7000 users to be online at the time bookings open – which is more than enough people to fully book the Milford out,” said Cat Wilson, director heritage and visitors for the Department.

“Across the entire Great Walks season there is only space for just around 7500 people total to walk the Milford Track. It can be startling how quickly spaces disappear when we open bookings,” says Wilson.

Milford is the first of 10 Great Walks to go on sale for the season, starting October 2023, and the network is set to be joined by an eleventh trail this year.

 “We are working (with our partners) towards the Hump Ridge Track attaining Great Walk status in October 2023,” says Wilson.

Crossing the MacKinnon Pass, towards the Jervois Glacier. Photo / Thomas Bywater for Travel

There is still extensive work to be carried out between May 2022 and August 2023, to finish upgrades. DoC’s website warns trampers to expect some delays on the trails during building works, while machinery and helicopters are in use.

The trail and its two 40-bunk huts will continue to be booked through the Hump Ridge Trust’s booking system.

Summer bookings for the trail from Tuatapere are already open, says Wilson, “as their booking system is not limited to one season at a time”.

The next tranche of Great Walks are set to open for booking, next week.

From 9.30am, on Wednesday April 26 the Abel Tasman Coast Track, Kepler Track, Rakiura Track and Whanganui Journey will open for bookings.

On the following day, the April 27, the Paparoa Track, Routeburn Track and the Tongariro Northern Circuit will open from 9.30am.

The Heaphy Track is delayed by repairs at the old Heaphy River bridge, and will be booking for partial access from 9.30am May 16. Full through access will be confirmed at a later date.

The Lake Waikaremoana Track which was badly affected by flood water does not currently have a booking date.

“In large part this is just to avoid potential confusion,” says Wilson, who did not want trampers to think the walk was open. Even if you have a booking, make sure you check trail conditions before you set off, especially during off-peak season.

Transport to and from remote tracks can be a hidden cost. With water-taxis required at both ends of the Milford Track, this tacks on another $150-plus for trampers, on top of this year’s increased fees of $78 per person per night.

I’ve missed a space on a walk. What can I do?

Just because the trail is booked out, doesn’t mean it will stay that way.

In the past season (2022/23) there were 7300 bookings on the Milford Track booking. Of those there were 1479 cancellations. That’s 16.8 per cent of bunks re-released into the

“Cancellations are released back into the system immediately, so it does pay to keep an eye out. It’s also worth checking back later on the opening day if you miss out,” says Wilson.

A lot of cancellations are made early on, if groups of trampers realise they have multiple bookings, or ‘reserved’ bookings that are started in the system but never placed are also eventually re-released.

“If users don’t complete a booking they’ve started it will be made available again.”

Some websites and tramping groups have been set up to help make sure cancellations don’t go to waste or to give a heads-up when spaces are likely to be freed up.

Earlier this year one website, greatwalkhuts.com, was set up to send automated messages to thwarted walkers when bunks were freed up.

The Department of Conservation said it was “neutral” on the use of such apps but welcomed community-minded trampers who improved the experience of others.

The new Mintaro Hut, on the Milford Track Great Walk. Photo / Thomas Bywater for Travel

Why do some Great Walks book out so quickly?

Some trails such as the Milford and Routeburn book out quickly, particularly over summer high season.

Previous years disgruntled walkers have blamed tour guides for buying up spaces for clients. Conspiratorially-minded trampers have even blamed booking bots and hackers for nabbing spaces on DoC’s booking system.

Wilson is not convinced by these rumours.

“We haven’t seen any evidence of bots or scripts being used to take up spots,” she says.

Previous years there have been issues with unscrupulous concessionaries on the Paparoa, Rakiura and Heaphy Tracks who were suspected of making pre-emptive bookings without clients to fill spaces. This is not allowed under DoC’s agreements.

“There was a deep dive into this issue in 2021 which found a few isolated and minor instances which were dealt with at the time,” said Wilson.

If there are any irregularities or bunks incorrectly booked, they will be cancelled and re-released to the system.

“Most often this monitoring only reveals genuine mistakes that have been made when using the system, and are easily corrected,” she says.

Mostly the difficulty to book is down to bunk spaces and demand.

Milford, which is extremely limited on bunk spaces, reliably fills up but sees nowhere near the demand that the Abel Tasman Coastal Track has. The Tasman is served by four huts and 18 campsites, bookable by Great Walk users.