Goat Maps Web map
The Kepler Track running along a sunny tussock ridge in Fiordland, with rocky peaks behind
Paul Huisman / Unsplash

Kepler Challenge and Luxmore Grunt course maps

A 60 km lap of the Kepler Track in Fiordland National Park, and the Luxmore Grunt, 27 km up to Luxmore Hut and back.

December 4 to 6, 2026 Te Anau, Fiordland

The Kepler Challenge runs the whole Kepler Track, one of the Department of Conservation's Great Walks, a 60 km loop in Fiordland National Park. You start and finish at the Control Gates, where the Waiau River leaves Lake Te Anau, a few kilometers from town. It was first run in 1988, the year the track was finished, and it's on the first Saturday of December every year. The Luxmore Grunt started the same year: it follows the Challenge to Luxmore Hut, then turns around.

The Challenge climbs from the lake to the tussock tops and follows them past two shelters before dropping into the Iris Burn valley. The way home is flat, past Lake Manapouri and along the Waiau River.

DOC's track guide says cellphone coverage on the track can't be guaranteed. Download the course map before you go: GPS shows where you are without a signal.

This is an unofficial guide: Goat Maps isn't affiliated with FreshChoice Kepler Challenge. Check the official site before you enter or race.

Kepler Challenge course map

Every course's checkpoints on the Goat Maps topo map. Each course has a map of its own further down.

Download the Kepler Challenge map to your phone

Save it in Goat Maps for a recce or race day. GPS shows where you are even without a signal.

Open in web map

Kepler Challenge courses

CourseDistanceClimbingStartTime limit
Kepler Challenge60.1 km (37.3 mi)2,200 m (7,218 ft)Sat, Dec 5, 6:00 AM12 h
Luxmore Grunt27.6 km (17.1 mi)990 m (3,248 ft)Sat, Dec 5, 7:00 AM

Kepler Challenge Kepler Challenge

The full Kepler Track loop: lakeshore, a 1,000 m climb, the alpine ridge and a long flat run home.

Distance
60.1 km (37.3 mi)
Climbing
2,200 m (7,218 ft)
Start
Sat, Dec 5, 6:00 AM
Time limit
12 h

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

From the Control Gates you run the lakeshore to Brod Bay, then climb about 1,000 m in 8.2 km to Luxmore Hut, where officials check your compulsory gear. The next 14.6 km, past the Forest Burn and Hanging Valley shelters, is the hardest stretch by the organizer's own rating. It's the high point of the course, about 1,400 m, and DOC warns of winds strong enough to knock walkers off their feet between Luxmore Hut and the descent into the Iris Burn.

After the steep drop to Iris Burn Hut, the last 31.7 km are mostly flat: down the Iris Burn valley to Rocky Point, to Moturau Hut on Lake Manapouri, and along the Waiau River from Rainbow Reach. The cutoffs come on this half: 8 hours to Rocky Point, nine and a quarter to Moturau Hut and 10 to Rainbow Reach, and 12 hours to finish. The organizer gives no distances for the two shelters, so the ones shown here are measured on its GPX.

A small tarn in brown tussock on the Kepler Track tops, with the lowlands far off
Jennifer Yung / Unsplash

Kepler Challenge Luxmore Grunt

Out along Lake Te Anau, up to Luxmore Hut, and back the same way.

Distance
27.6 km (17.1 mi)
Climbing
990 m (3,248 ft)
Start
Sat, Dec 5, 7:00 AM

Take this course offline

Download its map in Goat Maps and you can find the next checkpoint without a signal.

Open in web map

The Grunt takes the same lakeshore track to Brod Bay, climbs steeply to Luxmore Hut, and comes back the way it went: a steep descent, then the long flat run to the finish. It has about 990 m of climbing and four checkpoints, counting the finish. A transponder reader at Luxmore Hut lets your supporters see when you've reached the top.

A gravel path winding through mossy beech forest on the Kepler Track
Jennifer Yung / Unsplash

Getting an entry

Entries open online at 6:30 AM New Zealand time on the first Saturday in July, through an Eventplus account you should set up beforehand. Places go in the order entries are completed, and they go fast: in 2026 the Kepler Challenge sold out in about two minutes. Entries for the 2027 race open on 3 July 2027.

If you miss out, you join the waitlist in the order you entered, and places come up until 48 hours before the start. Entries can't be transferred. A guaranteed place comes with the Charity Challenge: 20 places at NZ$1,000 each, opened before general entry, with the money going to Fiordland community groups.

Withdraw by 30 September and you get your fee back less NZ$60. From 1 October, 75% is kept, and inside 14 days of the race there's no refund. Paying by card adds a 5% fee; bank transfer doesn't.

Race weekend

A lake far below a rocky, tussock-covered slope near Te Anau, with cloud on the forested hills across the water
Secret Travel Guide / Unsplash

Registration is on Friday from noon to 6 PM at the Real NZ Events Centre in Te Anau, and you have to bring your compulsory gear, because you only get your race number once officials have checked it. There's also a compulsory briefing on Friday evening, which may be a video you need to show you've watched.

On Saturday a free bus runs to the Control Gates from Paper Plus in the town centre, Distinction Te Anau Hotel and Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park, leaving at 5:15, 5:20 and 5:25 AM for the Challenge and an hour later for the Grunt. You can also drive, and officials help with parking. Through the day a shuttle runs between the finish and town on demand.

Supporters follow along on the live results: Challenge runners pass transponder readers at Luxmore Hut, both shelters, Iris Burn Hut, Rocky Point, Moturau Hut and 5 km from the finish.

Getting to Te Anau

Sunbeams breaking through cloud over Lake Te Anau and the Fiordland mountains, seen from the Kepler Track
Tomas Sobek / Unsplash

The nearest airports are Queenstown and Invercargill, each about two hours' drive from Te Anau. From Dunedin it's about 3.5 hours by car through Gore. Intercity buses run from Invercargill and Dunedin, and Tracknet from Invercargill.

Book early: the organizer warns that rooms fill quickly at that time of year. Its hotel partner, Distinction, has race rates in Te Anau, and nearby Manapouri has more places to stay.

Weather and compulsory gear

December in Te Anau averages a high of 19°C and a low of 8°C, with about 108 mm of rain (NIWA's 1981 to 2010 normals). On the Kepler Track, DOC says snow, strong winds and heavy rain can come in any month, and avalanche risk can last into December. If the weather is extreme, the organizer can switch to another course of a similar distance.

For the Challenge you carry, at all times, two thermal long-sleeved tops, thermal long johns, a thermal hat, gloves, a seam-sealed waterproof and windproof jacket and overtrousers, and a survival blanket. Skins don't count as thermals. Grunt runners need the jacket, hat and gloves. Gear is checked at registration, again before the start, at Luxmore Hut for the Challenge, and in spot checks at the finish. Bring a reusable cup: the checkpoints have no disposable ones.

Kepler Challenge checkpoints and GPS coordinates

For crews and spectators: each place on the map in decimal degrees, latitude first. Paste them into any map app or add them as waypoints in Goat Maps.

  • Control Gates (start and finish)

    -45.44056, 167.68630

  • Brod Bay

    202 m (663 ft)

    -45.40418, 167.67446

  • Luxmore Hut

    1,085 m (3,560 ft)

    -45.38526, 167.61919

  • Forest Burn Shelter

    1,270 m (4,167 ft)

    -45.38952, 167.57186

  • Hanging Valley Shelter

    1,390 m (4,560 ft)

    -45.38288, 167.53622

  • Iris Burn Hut

    497 m (1,631 ft)

    -45.39902, 167.50949

  • Rocky Point

    300 m (984 ft)

    -45.44849, 167.56733

  • Moturau Hut

    185 m (607 ft)

    -45.48172, 167.61071

  • Rainbow Reach

    -45.48999, 167.66428

  • 5.5 km to go

    -45.47694, 167.68250

  • 2.2 km to go

    -45.45260, 167.68503

Kepler Challenge FAQ

When is the Kepler Challenge 2026?

Saturday 5 December 2026. The Kepler Challenge starts at 6 AM and the Luxmore Grunt at 7 AM, both from the Control Gates. Registration is the day before, and prize giving is Sunday morning.

How do you get into the Kepler Challenge?

Enter online when entries open at 6:30 AM New Zealand time on the first Saturday in July: 3 July 2027 for the next race. The 2026 race sold out in about two minutes. After that there is a waitlist, or a guaranteed place through the NZ$1,000 Charity Challenge.

What are the Kepler Challenge cutoffs?

You must reach Rocky Point (36.6 km) within 8 hours, Moturau Hut (44.6 km) within nine and a quarter hours and Rainbow Reach within 10 hours. With the 6 AM start that is 2 PM, 3:15 PM and 4 PM. You have 12 hours to finish.

What do the Kepler Challenge checkpoints have?

Water, electrolyte drink, bananas, oranges, lollies and crisps, with Clif Bars at Brod Bay, Luxmore Hut, Iris Burn, Moturau Hut and Rainbow Reach. Every checkpoint has first aid and a radio. There are no cups, so bring your own.

Can you have a pacer in the Kepler Challenge?

No. The race rules say pacers are not permitted.

Is there cell service on the Kepler Track?

Don't count on it. DOC's track guide says coverage on the track can't be guaranteed. Download the course map in Goat Maps before race day: your phone's GPS works without a signal.

Try Goat Maps free.

Topo and satellite maps, slope angle shading, public land, track recording, waypoints and GPX import are free. Membership adds offline maps and the route planner for $29.99 a year.

Or open the web map

Updated . An unofficial guide, from the organizer's published information. Coordinates from the organizer's course and OpenStreetMap contributors. Photos from Unsplash. Organize a race? We help with course files.