Hanmer Springs

Hanmer’s main draw is its “Alpine Thermal Resort.” In summertime the “alpine” is a bit of a stretch, given that Hanmer is at a snowless 300 meters of elevation, but regardless, people love the place and you should expect a busy summertime tourist crowd. In wintertime snow drapes all the nearby peaks, making for some great “alpine” vistas from the hot pools.

The thermal resort isn’t all there is to Hanmer. Within the town there’s a forest park laced with walking tracks, there’s a tramp-able 1,300m Mt Isobel backing the town, and there are some great back-road driving tours that get you off the beaten path and into some sweet remote landscapes. Thus, come to Hanmer for the famed hot water springs, but leave time to explore the lesser-known free natural attractions.

Hanmer Alpine Thermal Resort. This place is fun to visit! Prepare your expectations though, as there’s nothing natural about the artificially crafted pools lined with both real and fake rocks. Hanmer is more of a busy people-watching place than a quiet meditative spot. That’s the fun of Hanmer’s springs —the summertime crowd of international visitors who hop from pool to pool to find one “just right” for the moment. The resort has about a dozen different pools of different sizes and temperatures. Everyone seems to constantly hop from one pool to the next, providing an interesting palette of international swimsuit styles, body types, and flirting habits. It’s like a big beach party every day, rain or shine. It costs roughly $15 per person to use the pools.

Dog Stream Waterfall track. Check the i-Site for the Hanmer Forest Tracks map. This track is a steep 45 minutes to the falls, with many stairways towards the end. The falls are 40m high and very narrow. Bring sandals so you can stand in the small rocky waterfall pool for a shower on a hot day. The route was the Hanmer Forest’s best loop track, but logging has closed the “down” side of the loop as of 2010— check with the i-Site for info whether the loop portion has re-opened.

From downtown Hanmer take Jollies Pass Rd for 2km then turn left onto McIntyre for 3km unsealed to carpark.