Hunt Saddle Track to Hunts Creek Hut Track

Hunt Saddle Track to Hunts Creek Hut is a hard out-and-back through river gravel, forest, tussock and scree to a small hut in a high valley basin. The mapped line is about 8.4 km each way (16.8 km return). There is a distance mismatch: the listed figure is 13 km return, so plan for the longer mapped version. Allow 8 to 9 hours. This is a proper backcountry tramp for people comfortable with rough, unformed ground, not an easy hut stroll.

Start at the Kelly Creek car park on SH 73, following the Carroll Hut Track briefly before turning onto the steep track above a gorged reach of Kellys Creek. It drops back to the creek, and much of the next stretch follows gravel riverbed with short sections of track. After heavy rain, high water can make this travel impassable. Near the head of the valley, pick up the track on the true left and climb through light forest and open red tussock toward Hunt Saddle.

The saddle is muddy, with head-high tussock and deep holes that are easy to miss. It is also difficult to navigate; follow the marker poles and take your time. Beyond it, the rough forest sidle rises and falls above Hunts Creek, crossing two large screes before dropping to the basin flat. The hut clearing is visible earlier than the hut itself, which appears only in the last roughly 100 m.

Hunts Creek Hut is a standard four-bunk Forest Service hut dating to the 1960s. It has heating, mattresses and a non-flush toilet. The tap water is untreated and must be boiled. Bookings are not required; bunks are first come, first served. No pets are allowed in the national park.