No. 3 Hut / Number Three Hut

No. 3 Hut (16 beds in 2 rooms, wood-burning stove, limited firewood available, tank / creek water) is a lovely historic hut on flats in the mid reaches of the Hurunui River. The hut is well built and lined with native timber. It dates back to the re-opening of the original Harper Pass route as a tramping track early last century. The original gold-rush track over Harpers was earlier abandoned in favour of the Arthurs Pass route. This hut was was one of four built along the roite in an attempt to establish a tramp that would 'rival the popularity of the Milford track'. Whilst the attempt to rival Milford may have been a little over-optimistic, the Hurunui valley makes a pleasent valley-floor tramp.

Above the hut, the valley leaves farmland and enters the Hurunui Mainland Island, where intensive control and restoration work by DOC attempts to preserve a range of rare species.