Maungakura/Red Hill - Ben Nevis Loop
- 7 hr loop track with a road section
- Medium/hard
3 day tramp in Richmond Ranges. Requires good weather.
A few river crossing on 1st day to Top Wairoa Hut from Wairoa Gorge.
Day trip to summit Maungakura/Red Hill, back the same way, stayed at Top Wairoa Hut on 2nd night. Exposed and very rough terrain.
Tramped over Ben Nevis and walked back the road to the car for the final day.
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Walking time
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3 days
7 hr
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Distance
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50.0km |
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Type
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Loop track with a road section
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Grade
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Medium/hard
Route to Red Hill is rough. Big skin-grater boulders and good route finding skills required. I mostly followed the tops but can also sidle around about 15 meters down the south side of the last few peaks. Exposed route to Ben Nevis too. Grades explained
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Bookings
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No bookings — open access
No — open access
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Starts
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Wairoa Gorge (MTB gate) |
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Ends
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Ben Nevis access road |
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Maps
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-
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Altitude
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195m
–
1,791m
Altitude change 1,596m
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Link
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https://yamap.com/activities/9347618/trackshttps://yamap.com/activities/9347618/tracks |
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First day:
Started from Wairoa Gorge MTB gate. Make sure you leave space to let other cars go through the gate and the road.
3 hrs to Mid Wairoa Hut. The track is okay, well marked, a little rough.
4 hrs to Top Wairoa Hut. A few river crossings. Deep enough to get wet feet on a dry day. The track gets much nicer here.
Second day:
Day trip to Maungakura/Red Hill summit. Wearing gloves was super handy. Back the same way. Stayed another night at Top Wairoa Hut.
Third day:
1 hr to the saddle.
Keep walking the high route to the divert at point 1569. Skipped Mt Ellis and on to 1670, 1649, 1668 and the hardest bit of the day through to 1642.
3.5 hrs since the saddle to Ben Nevis.
2 hrs to the road end
another 1 hour-ish on the road back to the car.