Toka Bivouac faces east and has a lovely position in a subalpine basin on the Ngamoko Range. One of a few surviving ex-Forest Service S86 dog box-style bivouacs, it was built during the deer-culling era and is located on the tops of the Ruahine Range. 

It can be an enchanting place, especially in the early morning when the sun hits the basin, glinting off tarns and lighting up the surrounding ridges and numerous leatherwood gullies. The biv overlooks the nearby Pohangina River, and has a pleasing sense of remoteness despite good access on two tracks.

Toka Biv was built sometime between 1958 and 1960, and by 2019 the 60-year-old structure needed some serious work. Rotten timber, rusted cladding, rat-chewed mattresses and a leaking window all suggested better days. Happily, the two-bunk biv had a superb makeover in 2020 when a Backcountry Trust volunteer team did a complete rebuild, including a new water tank, and a new thunderbox toilet positioned away from the tarns. 

Two tracks lead onto the Ngamoko Range – the Knights and Shorts tracks – and can be combined for a round trip. I prefer to start on the Shorts Track because the descent on the Knights Track is a little easier on the knees than in the reverse direction. Both tracks branch off Deerford Loop Track, which begins near the end of Limestone Road, near Sixtus Lodge. Beyond the Deerford Loop Track, the route up Shorts Track is typically Ruahine: steep, stiff climbing through forest dominated by pepperwood and other shrubs, followed by stands of spiky pāhautea (mountain cedar trees) as you climb higher. At about 1380m the track reaches the tops and the gradient eases as you follow marker poles northward, first past the Knights Track junction then onto the high point of Toka (1519m).

After continuing north for another kilometre to reach a knoll, the route goes down to Toka Biv. Make sure you find the right turn-off. It’s narrowish, involves some scrambling, and follows a thin spur fringed by leatherwood into the bivouac’s superb basin. There is good camping nearby.

The route out retraces inward steps back to Toka, from where there’s a descent to Knights Track.