Lodging · Arthur's Pass National Park
Two bunks, bright orange paint, no DOC track to reach them.
Overview
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The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Arthur's Pass Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Arthur's Pass 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.
“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
Candlesticks Bivvy is a free, two-bunk hut in a grassy river flat beneath Arthur’s Pass’s mountain slopes. It is a remote overnight destination, not a roadside stop: DOC lists no track access, and visitors have to plan and navigate their own route. With only two bunks and no booking system, don’t count on a bed being available when you arrive.
DOC advises independent navigation with a map, compass and GPS. It also warns visitors to assess unbridged river and side-stream crossings and stay out when conditions are unsafe. The hut’s approach distance and trailhead are not established in the available information, so don’t treat this as a marked walk.
Water reports are inconsistent, and a potable supply is not confirmed. Arrive prepared to source and safely treat drinking water. A pit latrine is mapped at the hut.
The New Zealand Forest Service built the bivvy in 1958, and it was first called Bull Creek Bivvy. Hut records describe its roof painted orange and sides dull green in 1977; volunteers overhauled it and gave it its Rescue Orange finish in 2018.
Wildlife
982 sightingsKeaMost seen around noonSighting map
39 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
190 sightingsBlue DuckMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
20 sightingsKākāMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
15 sightingsWekaMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
15 sightingsParadise ShelduckMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Arthur's Pass. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Parkwolf’s Arthur's Pass ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
