Nobody Thought This Route Would Work - Finding the Unknown Lake

Lake Unknown sits hidden in a hanging valley above the Beans Burn and Dart Rivers in the mountains at the head of Lake Wakatipu — a place few people ever visit. With no official track and barely any information to go on, I set out to try a new route straight up a dry creek bed I spotted on satellite imagery. This video documents that off-track mission: rough terrain, steep climbs, and the hope that the creek would lead all the way to the lake. It’s a place that earned its name — officially called “Lake Unknown” in 1948 because no one had properly recorded or named it, even decades after early explorers passed nearby. What I find at the top is a lake as beautiful and isolated as its name suggests. 📍 Location: Lake Unknown, Mount Aspiring National Park, above the Beans Burn Valley near Glenorchy, South Island, New Zealand.