The woman's husband reported her missing to police after she didn't arrive at the Golden Bay endpoint of the track on Sunday evening.
He called police at midnight and two hours later a local rescue chopper was deployed to search the tracks by air but was unsuccessful.
Around 7.35am on Monday morning, the husband received a text message from his wife, saying she was lost. Police believe she sent it the night before, but it was delayed due to poor coverage.
Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) crew were deployed from 4am, entering the tracks from each end so they didn't miss her exiting.
Police search and rescue incident controller senior constable Dave Cogger said the three LandSAR teams from Golden Bay that attended did a great job.
"They were tracking the women's shoe prints to try and work out where she left the track and became disoriented."
She was located uninjured by one of the LandSAR teams shortly before 9am on Monday, and was walked out by the crew.
Cogger said the woman was pleased to be reunited with her grateful family.
