Where is it?: Close to the township of Fairlie- located in Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park
The car park is accessible at the end of Clayton Road (gravel road) near Fox Peak Ski field.
The Tramp: 7.09 km one-way 4WD track, 365 m ascent. Took us 2 hr 45 mins with a 5 year old. Parts of the track were muddy underfoot after the major flooding recently. Lots of stream and rivers to cross- so wet feet to be expected. Relatively flat track with some slight inclines but nothing major. Follow Ophua river for 1st half of the track with lots of mountains.
The Hut: 4 bunk. Very rustic and basic- 1896. Possums on the roof at night and mice inside. One seat and a very small prep area. Wood stove but no firewood around to burn as mainly tussocks . Stone chimney. I didn’t even go near the toilet. Very very cold (mid-July) – boots, water bladders, socks and water in my jet boil froze. Has some solar lighting. No cell coverage at the hut. Hut is not bookable and is in the shade so gets dark pretty quickly.
Good to know: No water tank so bring what you need. There was the river nearby from what I could hear but I didn’t go and find it.
River crossings
Hut was pretty dirty with lots of left over mess from previous visitors-lots of animal bones and bullet casings from hunters, empty beer cans and bottles of spirits and some food.
Does cross private land but access is allowed, cows on the track with lots of cow poo.
Visited by: (who and when). Sawyer and me- 19.07.2021
trampingforlittlepeople 