Casey Hut via Andrews Track

This is an out-and-back from Andrews Shelter to the current Casey Hut, crossing Casey Saddle. The mapped corridor is about 32 km (19.8 miles) return; allow 12–16 hours on foot, usually split over two days with a booked hut night. Choose it for a remote hut trip and a long mountain crossing, not as a quick walk from the road.

The marked track starts just upstream of the bridge by Andrews Shelter. It climbs steeply through scrub into mountain beech, then contours across side creeks to Hallelujah Flat, about two and a half hours from the shelter. From the flat, walk over the broad, gentle Casey Saddle through tussock, bog pine and pale-flowered Hebe odora. On the return toward Andrews Shelter, the track on the true left below the saddle gives a view up the creek bed toward scree and the ridge crest.

Past Casey Saddle the route follows a terrace above Surprise Stream, drops into a streambed below a small swamp, climbs through scrub and forest, then descends to the old hut site. The original hut burned in 2015. The current 12-bunk hut opened about 800 metres east on a terrace above the Poulter River, and the last approach now follows the river instead of the old beech-forest line. Older maps can stop at the wrong site. At the end, follow the signed river-side access toward the current hut; the mapped line reaches the nearby vehicle track about 75 metres short of the hut.

This is an advanced backcountry tramp with a steep climb, rough track and unbridged stream and river crossings. Levels can rise quickly after rain; wait if a crossing does not look safe. The route crosses avalanche terrain, with avalanche activity most common from May through November. Casey Hut must be booked; it has heating, mattresses and a non-flush toilet, but its tap water is untreated and must be boiled. Dogs are not allowed.