The gateway to one of Te Anau's Great Walks is set for an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 revamp from January to March next year.
The Department of Conservation has started advertising for construction tenders for the upgrade of Te Anau Control Gates entrance, which accesses the Kepler Track.
Doc's Te Anau area manager, Reg Kemper, said the new entrance would give extensive views of Lake Te Anau and surrounds and would include a car park, visitor shelter, picnic area and toilet facilities.
It would be used by day visitors and provide longer-term parking for walkers on the track.
"Thorough planning has gone into designing what we hope will be a premium visitor site that works well for all visitors and suits the environment," he said.
"The new car park will provide for increased use and will link in with the existing Lakeside Walk from Te Anau to the Control Gates."
Visitors to the Kepler Track often found access from the existing 30-year-old car park confusing.
The new location and the design of the facilities should provide a stronger link with the track, he said.
Up to 80 cars and several buses could use the new car park.
The shelter would contain visitor information and provision would be made for assisted wheelchair access from the car park on to the lake-side track.
That would complement the current wheelchair access to Brod Bay on the Kepler Track, Mr Kemper said.
The current car park would become smaller so anglers could get to the Upper Waiau River more easily and for improved management access to the control structure.
The nearby lookout point would be unaffected by the proposal.
As the new site was separate from the current car park, there would be no disruption to users during construction, Mr Kemper said.
Use of the Kepler Track has increased over the 20 years since it opened.
It now receives about 8500 overnight visitors during the Great Walks booking season between October and April and a further 1000 in the off-season.
