Burn Hut Overnighter

Burn Hut is the most northerly hut in the Tararua range. It isn’t particularly high at around 750m, but the bush-line in this area is quite low so there are some great views to be had.

From Wellington it was a 2 hour drive to the Mangahao Hydro Electric Power Station situated near Shannon. From here the tarmac gave way to gravel and after another 40 minutes or so along a very twisty and rough road I finally arrived at Mangahao Dam No. 2 where the track to Burn Hut starts.

I was actually surprised I made it at all. I had checked out the directions beforehand online which indicated the road went straight to the reservoir. The reality was a number of junctions and side roads all with absolutely no signposting; it was only some inspired guesswork and a bit of luck that saved the day. The road itself is doable with a normal family car, but much more than that and it's 4x4 territory.

I parked the car (parking by the dam is pretty tight with room for just a couple of vehicles) and then headed over the dam and onto the start of the walk.

The start of the walk.

The track sidled along a very steep slope above the Mangahao River and was narrow and awkward in places with a couple of spots where you definitely wouldn’t want to slip. The route proceeded in this fashion for about an hour during which time there were three streams to cross, the last of which is bridged. A short way after the bridge the track turned sharp right and headed uphill. The climb started steeply at first and then steadied off a bit and after another hour I hit the bushline and lots of lovely leatherwood. The walking had been really enjoyable so far through some lovely bush and on a well-marked and maintained track at that.

 The Mangahao River.

 The bridge.

The track was steep in places.

From here the track levelled out with some easy walking along a route that had been hacked out of the leatherwood. A quick note on leatherwood which is a very tough shrub that grows incredibly densely up around the treeline and from a tramping perspective is almost impenetrable and hated with a passion. This section of the track appeared to have been (re)cleared very recently given the amounts of fresh cut vegetation littering the track.

The Leatherwood Highway.

The track followed along a ridge before heading down a spur where Burn Hut is situated. For or the next 40-minutes or so I headed through the leatherwood highway. 

 There were some great views when the leatherwood thinned out.

 It was a lovely day so I took plenty of time for breaks.

Burn Hut on the spur.

At roughly the point the route heads down the spur the leatherwood thinned out and the track became rather overgrown. From this point rather than blindly following my nose I started to pay a bit more attention to the route which wasn’t actually that difficult to follow, but could well be in another year or so if it isn’t cleared. After another 30 minutes I arrived at the hut and a well-deserved cuppa.

 Only a few minutes to go.

 The Hut.

Yours truly.

The hut itself is quite small with just 6 bunks but is lovely and airy and a very nice place to spend the night.

The next day was a bit cloudy and drizzly, so I didn’t hang around and walked out the same way I came in.

The walk in to Burn Hut is fairly easy with some lovely scenery, so comes highly recommended. Mind you, I could have done without the gravel road.