The walk from Klondyke Bridge to Anti Crow Hut is an easy and pleasant trip and often used as a stepping stone for alpine adventuring.

From the car park on the south side of Klondyke Bridge, head along O’Malley Track, a wide, easy path through beech forest with the Waimakariri River surging below. You’ll soon pass a campsite in sphagnum heaven and sidle up a pretty stream. Gentle bush walking follows.

Within 45min the grassy plain of Turkey Flat is reached, over which the track beelines for nearly 5km. Turkey Flat is the Jordan Stream’s expansive alluvial fan. After rain there may be several channels to cross, any of which may be boot-wetters. 

The scenery here is somewhat surprising. With snow-capped Mt Harper and Camp Spur beckoning ahead, the grassy flats, dotted with beech, feel more characteristic of alpine valleys further south. They can be cold and windy, and on an unsettled day a sense of loneliness and vulnerability prevails. 

At the far side of Turkey Flat the track heads for the bush to follow a high-water route above the Waimakariri, but unless the river is flowing hard against its true right bank, attempt to continue up the riverbed – it’s much easier going. Anti Crow Hut is in a clearing within sight of the bank.  

Being close to the road, this hut is a popular first-nighter for those heading deeper into Arthur’s Pass, and an easy trip for newbies wanting to experience a front-country hut with backcountry unpretentiousness. Anti Crow is more than 60 years old, and there are superb views across the Waimakariri towards Mt Rolleston and Crow Glacier, the northernmost glacier in the Southern Alps. A rocky lookout, reached after a short walk, reveals sweeping views of the upper Waimakariri Valley. 

Overnight visitors can retrace their steps. Experienced and energetic trampers could consider a circuit up Black Range to Bealey Spur Hut and back to the car park.