Places to stay
Route Guide: Otira to Mt Cook Village (pt 1)
Carroll Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 10.
A small, tidy hut just above the treeline on the Kelly Range. Recently renovated with new cladding and new windows. Water is available from the nearby creek, and there is ample camping space.
Th...
Grassy Flat Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 12.
Grassy Flat Hut (sleeps 12 on 2 platforms, matresses, water, stove) is a modern tramping hut with a large covered veranda overlooking the Grassy Flats in the upper Styx Valley. The hut is on a te...
Price Flat Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 6.
Prices Flat Hut (6 bunks, matresses, tank water, stove) lies on a small terrace 100m above the Whitcombe River, adjacent to Cateract Creek. It's a comfortable, forestry style hut, free of the numer...
Kokatahi Bivouac (removed)
Hut
• Removed!
Hut removed 2008.
Kokatahi Bivouac (dilapidated) was once a typical 2-bed apline bivouac, located on a grassy face above the upper Kokatahi River, just above the confluence with the creek drai...
Top Kokatahi Hut
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 4.
The Top Kokatahi Hut (4 bunks, matresses, tank water, stove) is a forestry-style hut. It is perched above the confluence of the Kokatahi River with a side-creek leading to Bastion Ridge. The hut ...
Neave Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 6.
Neave Hut (6 bunks, matresses, stream water, stove, limited firewood) is a comfortable forestry-style hut in the upper Whitcombe Valley, some 5km below the Whitcombe Pass. It can be a cold place: ...
Dillon's Homestead (historic)
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 5.
Dillon's Homestead(historic) (5 beds, fireplace, tank & stream water, fiirewood available) is a well built, well restored hut in the mid Taipo Valley and at the base of the crossing from Otira via ...
Mudflats Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 6.
Mudflats Hut (6 bunks, matresses, tank water, stove, firewood available) lies in the mid-reaches of the Arahura Valley in Westland. It's a forestry-style hut, and well maintained. Don't be put off...
Frew Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 10.
Frew Hut (sleeps 10 on 2 platforms, matresses, tank & creek water, stove) is a modern tramping hut on river terraces at the confluence of Frew Creek and the Whitcombe River. It is rodent, sandfly ...
Frew Saddle Bivouac / Frew's Biv
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 2.
The Frew Saddle Bivouac (sleeps 2, matresses, stream water 100m distant, no fire) is a well maintained alpine bivouac 200m west of the Frew Saddle between the upper Hokitika and Whitcombe valleys. ...
Dillons Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 10.
The New Dillons Hut (sleeps 10, stove, tank water) lies in the middle reaches of the Taipo valley, 10 minutes upstream from the historic Dillons Homestead. It presumably aimed to replace this chara...
Poet Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 4.
Poet Hut (4 bunks, matresses, fireplace, river water) is a timber built hut in a small clearing in the Mungo Valley. The hut lies just above the river, and excellent swimming pools can be found a ...
Dunns Creek Hut
Hut
• Standard Hut (DOC). Capacity: 4.
Dunns Creek Hut (4 bunks, stove, limited dry firewood, tank & creek water, mattresses). The hut sits at the back of a marshy flat beside Dunns Creek, about half way between the confluence with the ...
Toaroha Bivouac
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 2.
Toaroha Bivouac (2 bunks, matresses, tarn water 50m distant) is a typical alpine bivouac on the saddle of the track from the Toaroha valley to Mungo/Hokitika valley. There's 2 beds with matresses,...
Newton Creek Hut
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 4.
Newton Creek Hut (4 bunk, mattresses, stove, firewood, water) is a pleasant forestry hut beside Newton creek. It's drier and warmer than the swampy Dunns Creek location over the saddle, and is a v...
Kelly Shelter (Removed)
Hut
• Removed!
Kelly shelter is a roadside shelter on the Arthur's Pass road, at the base of Kelly's Creek and the track to Carroll Hut. Personally I recommend the Otira Hotel 3km up the road - less draughty, wa...
Crawford Junction Hut
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 6.
Crawford Junction Hut (6 bunks, matresses, tank water, stove) is by far the nicest hut in the valley. It's of wooden, not tin comstruction, and the inside walls and floor are timber-lined. A room...
Top Crawford Bivouac (Removed)
Hut
• Removed!
The Top Crawford Bivouac (2 bunks, no matresses, stream water 100m distant, no fire) is a typical alpine Biv, with one bed on the left wall, one on the far wall, and a cooking shelf on the right wa...
Prices Flat Hut (historic)
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 4.
The historic Prices Flat Hut is better looked at than slept in. It is a beutiful slab hut, with an iron roof and chimney, located on expansive flats in the Whitcombe valley. Inside are table and ...
Browning Range Bivouac
Hut
• Basic Hut/Bivvy (DOC). Capacity: 2.
'If you're just about buggered, you're just about at Browning Biv'. The sign below the biv says it all: it's a tough steep climb up the track from the Styx Valley to this lovely alpine bivouac.
...
Top Crawford Hut (Removed)
Hut
• Removed!
Top Crawford Hut (4-bunks, matresses, tank water, no fire) is a typical forestry-style hut. It's located on a small terrace several hundred meters above Crawford Creek, about halfway between Crawf...
Hut categories
- Great Walks Hut
- Well appointed DOC hut on one of the nine Great Walks. Great Walks pass required, bookings may be required. Facilities typically include toilets, heating, water, and bunks with mattresses. Some huts will have lighting, gas cooking, and a DOC ranger.
- Serviced Hut
- Larger, high standard hut. Many serviced huts have a booking system and must be booked in advance. Other huts require a back country hut pass or 3 hut tickets. Mostly owned by DOC. Facilities typically include a toilet, open fire or wood burner, water supply, and bunks with mattresses.
- Serviced Alpine Hut
- Alpine hut owned by DOC or clubs such as NZAC. Generally no heating. Payment varies. Facilities typically include a toilet, water supply, and bunks with mattresses.
- Standard Hut
- Typical DOC hut. Back country hut pass / 1 hut ticket required, no bookings. Facilities typically include a toilet, open fire or wood burner, and bunks with mattresses.
- Basic Hut/Bivvy
- Small DOC huts of 2-6 bunks. No fees or bookings. Facilities typically include a toilet and bunks with mattresses.
In general, food and cooking equipment is not available at huts. See DOC and NZAC websites for details of pricing and booking.
Campsite categories
- Great Walks Campsite
- Campsites are available on most Great Walks, usually next to huts. Great Walks pass required, bookings may be required. Toilets, water supply. No use of hut facilities not available.
- Serviced, Scenic, or Standard Campsite
- Accessible by car or boat, and offering a range of facilities.
- Basic Campsite
- Accessible by car or boat, but with minimal facilities. No fees or bookings. Toilet, water may be from stream.
- Backcountry Campsite
- Walk-in access. Fees vary. No bookings. Toilet, water may be from stream.