The track overlaps both the Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, with the border and highest point being the Harris Saddle.

The track spends a long time on the high ridges around Harris Saddle, with great long-distance views in many directions.

In the winter, the Falls Hut is commonly used as a ski touring base for easy access into the Serpentine Range and beyond.

Key Summit (918m), on the western end is the site of a popular viewpoint and nature walk not far from the roadway, and the return to the Routeburn Flats Hut are both commonly done in a day.

The well graded track crosses Sugarloaf stream (start/finish of the classic five pass tramp) and the Bridal Veil waterfall and leads to a steeper climb that goes above the gorge to Forge Flats, the site of an early blacksmith camp.

The popular side trip to Conical Hill (1515m) is commonly done from the shelter, and offers a 360 degree view of the area.

From the saddle (1255m), the track traverses southwards along the Hollyford face, with expansive views out to Martins Bay and the Tasman Sea, before a descent of a steep series of zig-zags to Lake Mackenzie Hut.

It then gradually descends past the 'Orchard', an open grassy area dotted with ribbonwood trees, to Earland Falls (174m high).

The most popular side trip in terms of numbers as this track to the left (or right if approaching from the carpark) is a day walk accessible from The Divide.

The Routeburn Track was named one of the top eleven trails in the world by the National Geographic Adventure Magazine in May 2005.

[citation needed] Paul Theroux, the American travel writer, described his hike on the Routeburn Track in Chapter 2 of his 1992 book, The Happy Isles of Oceania.

In December 1963 a party of 15 school students and teachers were struck by a freak blizzard while crossing the Harris saddle.

[5] In July 2016, a Czech hiker fell and died in deep snow while hiking the track in winter; his partner sheltered at the Lake Mackenzie Huts for a month before she was rescued.

Smaller birds that are conspicuous are the bellbird, grey warbler, pipipi, South Island tomtit and the rare mōhua.