Distance: 3.6 km (5.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Moderate-hard terrain
Altitude: 477m to 1561m. Gain: 1085m. Loss: 1m . Gradient: 18 deg (Steep)
Skills: Occasional scrambles (3/7) - Prolonged rivers (4/6)

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

minor (5/5)
A viable route, not widely used

Steep (difficulty: 5/5)
Steep climbs of >1000m

Moderate-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Tall, walkable scrub / large rocks, occasional waterfalls or gorges in rivers

Occasional scrambles (difficulty: 3/7)
Tramp with some scrambles and exposure to falls

Prolonged rivers (difficulty: 4/6)
Frequent river travel - impassible after rain, risk of getting trapped

Unknown (difficulty: 0/7)
Not specified

From Routeburn Shelter walk along the road to the bridge over Upper Kowhai Creek (sign posted Upper Kowhai Creek Number 3 on its yellow NZTA sign post and climb down into the stream bed here. The February 2020 storm has blasted the stream bed clear of most scrub/trees, so travel up is currently quite easy on river gravel. From about the 600m contour the gradient steepens rapidly and its a rock hop the whole way up, staying in the stream bed as much as possible. You will need to push into the trees on the true right at a couple of times to get up past large boulders blocking the climb up.

The stream bed forks at about the 900m contour, with most of the water coming in from the true right/eastern branch. It is very important to take the true left/western/dryer branch, and continue climbing up it. The true right/eastern branch with all the water bluffs out higher up with dense scrub belts above the bush and beneath the slopes of Pt1524.

Once out of the bush follow the stream bed though the large rocky plateau at about 1100m and look for a small scrubby gully, hidden in the scrub on the immediate true left of the falls dropping out of the gorge between the 1200m and 1300m contours. Alternatively, a loose scree slopes west of the falls can be ascended, and then plunge through a bit of scrub at the top to reach the upper valley above the gorge at about 1300m.

A huge, steep, unstable scree wall rings the stream head. A scrubby/grassy ridge breaks up the slope on its southeast side and provides the easiest way up the unstable scree. At the top, follow the main grassy ridge up the hill to the south west, linking up with the stream coming down from the saddle. Follow the stream up to reach the tarn on the topomap, there's good camping dotted around on its eastern and western sides. Pt1736 is an excellent side trip for its 360 degree views if you have the time. Continue south through boulders to reach the main Scott/Kowhai Saddle.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

Make your way north across the boulders and rock on Scott/Kowhai Saddle and head around the tarn to locate its outlet stream. Follow the stream down the tussocky hill to where it flings itself off a massive, extremely steep scree slope that plunges down the hill for over 100m. About 20m further along the top of the slope look for a descent route that follows a, somewhat, more stable grassy/scrubby spur down the slope. Take extreme care descending if on the scree as it is very loose and unstable!

Once down at the main stream descend until the stream gorges with a waterfall, between the 1300 and 1200m contours. Look for a rocky gully on the true left of the gorge, past a patch of scrub, or a loose scree slope even further over to the west, and descend to reach easier terrain at about 1200m. In December 2017 the creek went underground down here so rock hopping down the dry creek bed was quite easy, but it was still flowing until about the 1000m contour in January 2021. Follow the creek bed down the hill side and you'll soon encounter a large side stream at about 900m which seams to supply much of the water for Kowhai Creek. Continue rock hopping down, staying in the stream bed as much as possible. You may need to briefly enter the bush on the true right at a couple of spots to get down past large boulders, but for the rest of the time the stream bed has the best travel.

Once down at the 600m contour the gradient eases off and the stream bed becomes very pleasant to travel in. The flooding from the February 2020 storm has water-blasted the bed quite nicely and it is very easy travel all the way down to the bridge on the Routeburn Road. You could cut through the bush directly to Routeburn Shelter as I did in 2017, but it is lousy travel full of wind fall and bush lawyer, so I recommend staying in the stream.