Panorama taken form the track looking over Lake Hayes and the mountains beyond. At the time the water on Lake Hayes was almost perfectly still, and this produced beautiful reflections in the lake's surface.

Lake Hayes - Central Otago visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Lake Hayes' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Otago.

Lake Hayes lies in a small depression just south of Arrowtown and a short distance from Queenstown. The lake is about 3km long and 1km wide. A small river feeds into the northern end and the lake drains from the southern end into a tributary of Kawarau River as it flows east from the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu.

To the north of Lake Hayes is Waterfall Park. Lake Hayes is used for recreation, kayaks are a common site on the still waters, with access from launch sites around the shore of the lake. There are walking tracks around the lake and up into the hills. The lake and tracks are often used in triathlons and other sporting events.

Car: Lake Hayes lies beside the 6 Highway about 14km east of Queenstown, half way between Arrow Junction and the Shotover River. Queenstown is about 280km from Dunedin on the 8 and 6 Highways. It is about 65km from Wanaka.
Flight: Queenstown Airport has scheduled flights to Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney year-round and Wellington, Melbourne and Brisbane seasonally.