Some say Giants Castle Pass  is an extreme 4 hr (6 km) hike from Giant’s Hut below the Giants Castle Pass while it is perhaps realistically a 3 hr moderately difficult hike although if you are carrying a full backpack you might find it quite punishing.

There are many ways to get to the bottom of this pass, the most direct being the Giant’s Ridge which leaves the Bushman’s River just past the Main Caves and joins the contour path 2km south of the base of Giant’s Castle Pass. The total distance to the bottom is 11 km.

Just before reaching the river coming down from Giant’s Castle Pass when approaching along the contour path from the south, a cairn marks a very vague path up to the left. This path gets even more faint but with care, it can be followed all the way to the boulder bed where the path becomes pretty clear. The initial path stays on the southern slopes, climbing quite steeply until it levels off and contours to the boulder bed in the throat of the pass. Cross the river and follow the cairns through the boulder section until a clear path is reached higher up. This path is very loose due to all the gravel and it is easy to follow it’s steep gradient all the way to the short final gully which takes you to the top at 3000 m.