Carrington Hut Route

Carrington Hut Route is a point-to-point backcountry route from O’Malley Track, just south of Bealey Bridge on SH73, to Carrington Hut. The mapped line is 15.7 km (9.74 miles) one way. DOC’s route page lists 12.3 km; a stage-by-stage description of this Bealey Bridge approach gives about 16 km, matching the mapped line. A separate 16 km figure for the low-river approach from Klondyke Corner describes a different route and is not included here. DOC estimates 4–6 hours one way and plans this as a two-day return. Allow a full day to reach the hut, then retrace the route. This is an unformed expert route for people with high-level backcountry navigation and river-crossing skills; dogs are not permitted.

The route starts on O’Malley Track, which climbs above bluffs through beech and kānuka before dropping onto Turkey Flat. Poles mark the subtle line across this broad meadow and Jordan Stream’s gravel fan; they can be easy to lose among the channels and matagouri. The stream often disappears into the gravel, but after rain its channels can be difficult or impossible to cross. Anti Crow Hut, on the bush edge beside the Waimakariri, is the halfway stop on this roughly 8 km first stage.

Beyond Anti Crow Hut, pass behind the hut through beech and cross the small stream near the old hut foundations, then ford Anti Crow River. Rocky glacially sculpted knolls lead down to the Waimakariri. Its channel has moved across the mapped track about 2 km above Anti Crow Hut, so multiple difficult river crossings are now required before the marked route can be rejoined. The exact safe line changes with the river; a map line does not show a guaranteed crossing. Greenlaw and Harper creeks are further hazards when high. Check current DOC advice and river conditions before leaving, and Turn back rather than attempt a crossing that is unsafe. DOC also identifies avalanche hazard above Carrington Hut.

The final marked approach reaches the hut shortly before the White River joins the Waimakariri, in a clearing below Carrington Peak. The hut has 36 bunks, heating, mattresses and a non-flush toilet; Bookings are required. Its water is untreated and must be boiled. Bring your own cooker and utensils. There is no food service on the route. From Anti Crow Hut’s riverbed, the valley opens toward Mt Rolleston, Mt Harper and the Main Divide.

The upper Waimakariri is a broad glacial valley, nearly 2 km wide in places. Turkey Flat is an alluvial fan built by Jordan Stream, and the hard knolls farther upvalley are roche moutonnée shaped by moving ice. The destination is named for Gerard Carrington, who championed the hut and helped start the Canterbury Tramping Club in 1925. He drowned in the Waimakariri before the hut was finished; today’s building, the third at the site, dates from the 1970s.