Great Walk expected to be booked out despite partial closure

The Department of Conservation is confident one of the country's Great Walks will be good to go next tramping season despite weather damage.

The Paparoa Track was partially closed between the Escarpment emergency shelter and Pororari Hut due to a large slip.

It can be walked and biked as an in-and-out trip, but it is currently not operating as a through trip.

DOC heritage and visitor director Tim Bamford said the slip should be sorted out in the next month and the track ready for the upcoming Great Walk season.

Great Walks bookings have opened this week, but many were full within just a couple of minutes.

Every year it is a race to get a booking - last year it took 15 minutes for accommodation on the Milford Track to fill up for the entire season.

Bamford told Morning Report there was no evidence of bots.

Bookings opened today at 9.30am for the Paparoa, Kepler, and Tongariro Northern Circuit walks.

However, he said the South Island walks were the "gems in New Zealand's multiday walking experiences".

This year he said 80 percent of the booking were from New Zealanders.

Anecdotally, more New Zealanders are lacing up their boots to go bush.

Robin McNeill is a keen tramper from Invercargill and author of Moir's Guide South: The Great Southern Lakes and Fiords.

"I find a lot of retired women going tramping these days, especially on the tracks and even, and you know, moderately hard to hard tracks and as well as easy.

"Also, one of the really neat things about the Great Walks is that if you're under 18, it is free, in summer ... makes it affordable for families to go on the Great Walks."

He told Morning Report all ages of trampers were taking to the tracks.

"Great Walks are really ideal for families and people who are still getting into tramping, understanding it. It could be a trip in their lifetime, but it could be a stepping stone into more adventurous places."