Burn Creek Hut

Burn Creek Hut is a tiny, two-bunk backcountry bivouac at 1,260 m on the bushline beside an alpine basin in the Emily Peaks. It suits fit, experienced trampers who can plan and navigate a remote route: there is no DOC track access. The hut is free and first come, with no booking. There is no food service, so plan for a self-reliant overnight.

The New Zealand Forest Service built this two-bunk bivouac in 1958 for $80. Jock Fisher wanted a hut tall enough to stand in, and builder Ray Osman used leftover materials from Bob’s Hut. A volunteer overhaul in February 2024 replaced the floor and sleeping platform and rebuilt the chimney and hearth. The restoration is also reported to have added an outdoor toilet and roof-fed water tank, but the current facility list confirms only the bunks; the tank’s water quality is not established, so don’t count on it as potable.

A river flat upstream of Jacobs Ladder has stacked-rock remains from a gold-mining settlement used in the 1870s and again during the Great Depression. The sources disagree on when miners first established the route, so the hut’s date is the firmer piece of history.