Lodging · Nelson Lakes National Park
A riverside six-bunk hut for a proper backcountry tramp.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Nelson Lakes Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Nelson Lakes National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
East Matakitaki Hut is a standard six-bunk backcountry hut on a tussock flat beside the East Branch of the Matakitaki River, with beech forest nearby and the Spenser Mountains around the valley. It’s an overnight stop on a remote multi-day tramp, not a road-access attraction; I’d save it for a proper trip through the valley.
Access runs through Mt Ella Station. Start at the parking area opposite the cowshed, follow the orange markers and replace the electric-tape gates behind you. Bobs Hut is about two hours away on foot; Downies Hut is about six. River crossings are part of the route, and heavy rain can flood them dangerously. Severe weather can arrive in any season, so this is a place to plan carefully rather than squeeze in as a detour. Dogs aren’t allowed in the national park.
The six bunks are first come, first served. There’s a pit toilet and fireplace; the river is close, but no drinking-water supply is listed, so plan to treat water from natural sources. The hut was built in 1960–61 to a Forest Service S70 design and restored in 2020. The work replaced old lead-head nails partly to reduce lead-poisoning risk to kea.
Wildlife
20 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
39 sightingsWekaMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
11 sightingsKererūMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
55 sightingsBlack SwanMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
23 sightingsParadise ShelduckMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
17 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Nelson Lakes. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingDavid Saddle Route12 km · 12 hr · At the trailheadA remote hut crossing over a steep, sparsely marked alpine saddle.
ModerateEast Matakitaki Track4.3 km · 3 hr · 3.6 km awayA beech-forest tramp to a six-bunk hut beside the river.
ModerateWest Matakitaki Track to Bobs Hut6.6 km · 4 hr · 4 km awayA remote hut beneath the Spenser peaks, beyond a final river crossing.
ModerateMatakitaki Forks Route11.9 km · 5 hr · 7.2 km awayA mossy beech track to a remote Matakitaki river crossing.Parkwolf’s Nelson Lakes ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
