Child friendly rating: 4 stars

Distance: 7.5km, 6km, or 2km

Signposted time: 3.5 hours or 1 hour

Bookings Required? No

Suitable in Winter? Yes

Camping Available? No - helicopter landing space

4wd required? No

Track: If you can get the forestry road key for this hut, the track is much shorter and easier. The local tramping club does have a copy of the key that members are allowed to borrow.

It brings the track down from a 6-7.5km walk to a 2km-ish walk, and makes it short enough that toddlers can walk it the whole way.

It is steep, but not as steep or overgrown as nearby Kahikatea Lodge. This makes this a much easier trip in my opinion. But also this is dependent on having access to the forestry road key.

If you don’t have the forestry Road access key then there are two main easier options to walk in.

The first is the newly opened river track. It opened in August 2024, and is the more exciting track. You follow the river along starting from the main silver peaks car park. The total track distance is 7.5km.

The other option is following the forestry road from the locked gate on foot or bike. From the locked gate on the forestry road it is approximately 4 km till the turn off to the unnamed track which links up with the river track. You can also continue along the road further to the tunnels track however this is a steeper and rougher option.

Regardless of which route you take you will need to cross the Waikouaiti River. The river track also has several other creek crossings along the way as well. These become impossible after heavy rain.

With access to the forestry key it took us two hours to get to the hut along the unnamed track, linking up with the River Track. This was with our three year old walking the whole way, but on a day that the river was running high, so we spent over half an hour just on crossing the river safely.

The hut: It is a small very tidy, 2012 built, 4 bunk hut with a lovely clearing. No camping on the clearing as this is the helicopter landing pad.

Recommendations: With the forestry road key, this is an extremely easy hut to visit, and recommended as a first hut for all ages as long as the river levels are not running high.

Without the forestry road key, this does add a bit of distance but the hut is still a great one to visit. The river track is the more pleasant route as the forestry road can be boring to walk.

Carry your kids across the river crossing if you are concerned that their feet may get cold, for example in winter time.