Neill Forks Hut

Hidden away and camouflaged in green and orange. 6 bunks with mattresses. Water from river. The fireplace is OK. Photo taken from helicopter landing clearing nearby. The Hector River is worth a side-trip up or downstream.

The hut now also boasts a new porch (the iron on which is rusting already), and a wood-burner instead of the cavernous fireplace and chimney down which river-spray used to waft.

The hut is maintained by the Wairarapa branch of the NZDA. They recently completed a repainting.

Some Routes to/from include Over Cone ridge and down to the Cone saddle and out to the Waiohine Gorge road end. About a 5-6 hour tramp.

Up to Neill and then along the Neill-Whinchcombe track to the bush line on Neill. The route up to the top of Neill is an old NZFS track, no longer maintained. Easy to follow uphill, not so easy descending. Route to Mt Hector though the tussock is unmarked