Overview
About Awapoto Hut
Why stop
- A deck gives a view toward Awaroa Estuary and its sandspit.
Heads up
- The advanced tramp in rules out a casual stop.
Map
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Abel Tasman Tour Guide
Your drive to Awapoto Hut, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Abel Tasman National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Pigeon Saddle and Awapoto Hut“You're approaching Pigeon Saddle, the roadside start for the walk to Awapoto Hut. This is a steep, rough forest tramp, with five kilometres and about three hours each way.”
Plays as you drive up to Awapoto Hut in the Parkwolf Abel Tasman Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Wainui Falls
- Reading a Palm's Past
- Protection Beneath the Water
- From Granite to Golden Sand
- 23 audio storiesacross Abel Tasman’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, New Zealand Fur Seal, Little Penguin, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 43 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Awapoto Hut
Plan this as an overnightAwapoto Hut is a 12-bunk standard hut in a forest clearing on Abel Tasman's Inland Track.
Awapoto Hut is a 12-bunk standard hut in a forest clearing on Abel Tasman's Inland Track. This is a tramp-in stay, not a drive-up cabin. From Pigeon Saddle, allow about three hours for 5 km; from Wainui car park, the approach is 13 km and about five and a half hours. The full 41.1 km route between Marahau and Wainui Bay is an advanced, three-day tramp, so Awapoto works as an overnight stop on a longer walk. It's a long way to go for a quick look around.
What the hut providesThere are 12 bunks with mattresses and heating, plus a non-flush toilet.
There are 12 bunks with mattresses and heating, plus a non-flush toilet. The tap water is untreated, so boil, filter, or chemically treat it before drinking. Bunks are first come, first served; bookings aren't needed, but you need a hut ticket or Backcountry Hut Pass. Carry food for your stay and pack out your rubbish. Dogs aren't allowed on the Inland Track. High winds and heavy rain are possible in any season, unbridged streams can become impassable in floods, and wasps are especially common from December through April.
The clearing and its surroundingsThe hut deck looks toward Awaroa Estuary and its sandspit, with mature dead beech trees around…
The hut deck looks toward Awaroa Estuary and its sandspit, with mature dead beech trees around the clearing. The wider Inland Track passes through regenerating and undisturbed forest, with granite outcrops opening the bush. Tui and bellbirds are among the birds you may see along the route.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Abel Tasman
10 sightingsKeaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
54 sightingsNew Zealand Fur SealMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
20 sightingsLittle PenguinMost seen around 9 PMSighting map
21 sightingsSouth Island KākāMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
526 sightingsWekaMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
16 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Abel Tasman. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
