Coldwater Hut

Coldwater Hut is a Department of Conservation Standard hut at 620 m on the southern edge of Lake Rotoiti, beside the mouth of the Travers River. A jetty fronts the hut, and there is space to camp outside. This is an overnight destination reached on foot or by water taxi, not a roadside stop; choose it for a night beside the lake rather than a quick visit.

From St Arnaud, allow about three and a half hours on foot via Lakeside Track and Mount Robert Road; from the Mount Robert Road end, allow about two and a half hours. A water taxi from St Arnaud can drop at the jetty. If you're coming from Lakehead Hut, the Travers River crossing takes about 50 minutes only when the water is safely low; otherwise use the swingbridge route, which takes about three hours.

The hut has 12 shared bunk spaces with mattresses, a non-flush toilet, an open fire and untreated water from a rain tank or the lake; boil the water before drinking. Bring food, a sleeping bag, stove and cookware, toilet paper, and a bag to carry rubbish back out. Firewood is not supplied, and there is no food service. Summer sandflies can be persistent, so pack repellent.

Built in 1963, Coldwater Hut is recognized as the park's first Department hut. It remains a simple stop on the lakeside route, with a basic bunkroom and a jetty just outside rather than road access or services.

The Lakeside Track heads north along Lake Rotoiti's western shore. About an hour from the hut, a short side track reaches 40 m Whisky Falls, tucked into moss- and fern-covered walls. In the surrounding beech forest, tūī, bellbirds, fantails, bush robins, tomtits and kākā are among the birds recorded along the circuit.

Lake Rotoiti lies in a deep valley carved by the Travers Glacier, which last occupied the valley roughly 20,000 to 12,000 years ago. Erosion still carries sediment into the lake, so the landscape around the hut is part of a much longer story than the overnight stop.