This is a two-to-three-day fair-weather trip with extensive river travel. It runs through remote rātā and kamahi country and can be done in either direction. The track into Griffin…
Buckland Peaks is best described as a miniature version of Kahurangi’s Mt Owen. Its prominent granite features have an air of adventure and it offers sunset views across the…
As a map, BX15 is as fine a piece of wall art as could be wished for. The Sierra Range blends into the névé-clad Kā Tiritiri o te Moana…
Don’t worry if the car park at Marble Hill is busy – the new hut at Lake Daniell is popular. At the trailhead, don’t take the Lake Daniell Track…
It’s a farm track to start, up the true right of Diedrichs Creek from the Diedrichs Creek Bridge on Whitcombe Valley Road. There are narrow laybys on the road…
If you feel a little adventurous, here’s a short and safe opportunity to navigate off the beaten track with a variation of the standard track to Lake Christabel Hut.…
The track starts just off SH73 on the true left of Harrington Creek. Vehicles can be left off the highway on an old section of road in the paddock…
Mt Tūhua is in the Lake Kaniere Scenic Reserve, which is considered one of the most ecologically significant areas of lowland forest on the central West Coast. Starting at…
The new Mataketake Hut has opened up some excellent tops travel on the Mataketake Range, north of Haast and just south of Lake Paringa, breathing new life into the…
A stunning podocarp forest walk leads to the summit of Mt Te Kinga where there are 360-degree views of the Coast. By Anna Welch Even if you only walked…
A big climb with a big view would describe Mt Turiwhate, 1373m, on the West Coast above the banks of the Taramakau River. Though the route is tracked and…
This river gorge is set amid the legendary grandeur of Westland and is readily accessible from Mid Branch Road, beside the Kokatahi River (permission is required from the local…
A carved arch welcomes visitors onto the Paparoa Track Great Walk, a meticulous gravel highway beckoning beyond. But turn left instead, where the sign indicates the Mt Watson Route. …
Smoke-ho car park to Ces Clark Hut 10.3km, 4-5hr The first section has been in use for years. Known as the Croesus Track, it leads steeply past gold mining ruins…
For the closest vantage point of Franz Josef Glacier, walk this five-hour return track with a stop at a hut on the way. By Chris Munn The Roberts Point…
This is a tough trip for the fit and determined as the track climbs 1200m through demanding terrain dominated by a big river and numerous side streams. Beginning in…
Buckland Peaks Hut is one of only a handful of huts in the Paparoa Range. While it makes a good day trip, it’s the perfect location for an overnight…
The trip to Welcome Flat Hut along the Copland Track is a bucket list walk for any Kiwi tramper: it’s a quintessential South Westland valley, with natural thermal pools…
It can take a bit of effort to find peace and solitude while travelling through the West Coast’s glacier country, but it can be worth it. Even in the…
Hike the Whitcombe Track to Frew Hut and then spend another valley day hiking to four-bunk Wilkinson Hut. An hour downstream from the hut, the route veers up a…
As the thunder of a thousand white hooves hammered the rocks below this impressive 60m waterfall, we stripped off our clothes and plunged into the deep glacial green pool…
Like most glaciers in New Zealand, Franz Josef is retreating fairly quickly. From the valley floor, it is now impossible to get a sense of the sheer enormity of…
The Point Elizabeth Track is an old water race built by 19th-century miners to sluice their gold claims. It’s now one of the most popular walking and running tracks…
Because of the nature of the climbs and descents, the Old Ghost Road is best done from Lyell to Seddonville. From Lyell, the track immediately crosses a swingbridge and…
There’s something of a wild west feel to this rewarding two-night circuit in the South Island’s Victoria Forest Park, starting and finishing near the town of Reefton. The highlight…
For all that, March provides a period when rivers are low, the weather is more settled and a little cooler for high, open tops travel. From SH73, the easy…
I’ve been trying to put my finger on what it is that some modern huts lack, something that makes them cold of spirit, hard and unwelcoming. A trip to…
When most people visit Mt Cook Village for the first time, their attention is directed firstly at Mt Sefton, towering spectacularly overhead, then at the big guy, Aoraki/Mt Cook,…
Perched high above Lake Kaniere on the West Coast, Mt Brown Hut is a cosy four-bunker with sublime views to the Tasman Sea and the Hokitika mountains. If you…
This three-to-four day loop heads up the Arahura River and down the Styx River to the bottom end of Lake Kaniere. It’s a relaxed affair and a doable trip…
Nestled in a beautiful basin on the lower slopes of the Smyth Range on the West Coast, Scamper Torrent is a four bunk Forest Service hut. Although infrequently visited,…
First steps are never easy. After a long, involuntary break from tramping, we were desperate to get back into the mountains. As we browsed our maps, Klondyke Valley Track…
A break in the storm Summer had not been good to us and we were itching to get out again. With one stormy weekend after the next, we had planned, attempted…
The pick of them Emerging from a tunnel of dense bush into a small clearing, I was expecting to see a dilapidated corrugated iron hut. But to my surprise,…
Secreted in the wild heart of South Westland, the upper Edison River provides epic views of the Strachan Range and its outlying summits. Sheer-sided ridges, gorges, impenetrable subalpine scrub,…
Start by heading up the Toaroha River to Cedar Flat Hut. From the hut, travel up the valley for a while longer, where the track passes through striking cedar…
Get ready for a real ride on this trip. Rapid Creek Hut can only be accessed via a cage attached to a flying fox – one person and pack…
With low-altitude (topping out at 580m), an easy forest walking track, little elevation and a jewel of a lake, this trip makes for an ideal winter tramp in all…
For a classic backcountry hut-bagging trip, traverse the Arahura to the Whitcombe Rivers over Styx Saddle, Lathrop Saddle, the Toaroha Range, Toaroha Saddle and Frew Saddle. An ‘extended mix’…
Tarn-dotted tops on West Coast loop After browsing the Remote Huts website I grew intrigued by Cone Creek Hut, deep in the headwaters of the upper Ahaura catchment on the…
A worthwhile speculation A 1931 advertisement in The Dominion newspaper inviting readers to invest in Big River Goldmines Limited, described it as ‘a worthwhile speculation’. This was somewhat of…
If you’re at Punakaiki and want to escape the crowds at Pancake Rocks, a short walk along the Pororari River Track will do the trick. The track passes through a...
The Styx River on the West Coast boasts a population of the only duck in the world hard-core enough to spend its days surfing turbulent white water in its…
The track starts from the edge of Lake Kaniere and eventually leads to Mt Brown Hut on the Newton Range, overlooking the Styx and Arahura rivers. The climb up the…
Mungo Hut is not an easy place to get to, but once there you’re in the heart of some spectacular country. The easiest way is up the Toaroha Valley…
To go tramping on the West Coast is to explore history. Everywhere you turn there are monuments to miners who carved a living from the earth. In their search…
The Toaroha to Lower Whitcombe track is typically hiked from the Cedar Flat end, up the Toaroha River and out via the Hokitika and Whitcombe rivers. This description, elevation…
At 180,000ha, Victoria Conservation Park is New Zealand’s largest conservation park. It’s reminiscent of Fiordland with reasonably easily traversed tops surrounded by fearsome battlements consisting of forest floor to…
For those wanting an easy overnighter to get back into tramping or who still haven,t quite got the strength for a long overnight tramp, the Taipo Valley is for…
An easy track follows the true right of the lower Fox River for a while before eventually getting wet feet on the numerous river crossings. After half an hour,…
