The Cromwell Rotary Club held a working bee at the site on Saturday, and officially launched the 45th parallel project with Cromwell Community Board deputy chairwoman Helen Hucklebridge cutting a ribbon to "open" the venture.
Club member Donald Young came up with the idea of such a track eight years ago.
"I was out on a boat on the lake [Dunstan] and took photos and thought how good it would be to have a walking track up there, with the Rotary club taking it up as a project," he said.
The idea did not gain the approval of the board until last year.
The land is owned by the Central Otago District Council and is in the district plan as an outstanding landscape.
"It's been let lie for a while. "But we have achieved it now," Mr Young said.
The "track" will follow the dry water channel up the side of the Sugarloaf, and go along the top of the landmark range.
There will be no earthworks involved in the project.
Under the agreement with the Central Otago District Council, stones and rocks can be moved to the side of the track, if needed, and some steps may be made from stones.
Mrs Hucklebridge said the town was very fortunate to have people prepared to give their time to such projects.
"Every time we drive to Wanaka, it never fails to amaze me how many cars are parked at the start of the Mt Iron walking track. I feel certain that when this 45th parallel track, with its fantastic panoramic views, is completed, it will become a popular attraction for both domestic and international travellers as well as being well used by the local population," Mrs Hucklebridge said.
Rotary president Alan Smith said the track was "usable" now but club members aimed to improve it.
He emphasised it was aimed at walkers only, not cyclists.
The 45th parallel south marks the point halfway between the equator and the South Pole.
