Matakitaki Forks Route

Matakitaki Forks Route is an 11.9 km (7.4 mile) one-way tramp from Downie Hut to the West Matakitaki River walkwire. Allow about five hours for this segment. It is a remote backcountry leg, not a road-to-road day loop: Downie Hut is the start, and the walkwire is the endpoint. Arrange the approach to the hut and your onward exit before setting out. The distance here does not include the separate continuation toward East Matakitaki Hut.

The marked route follows a natural, rough-surfaced tramping track through mossy beech forest. The average grade is gentle, but the whole leg is not an easy stroll: in the Downie-to-walkwire direction its recorded profile has about 720 m of climbing and 490 m of descent. Expect uneven ground and stream crossings; the trail is best suited to trampers comfortable with a long backcountry day.

The route ends at the West Matakitaki River walkwire, just above the meeting of the East and West branches. Trip reports also describe a separate East Branch wire crossing on the continuation toward East Matakitaki Hut. The bridge descriptions are easy to mix up, so keep the branch names straight when planning; the 11.9 km figure ends at the West wire.

Heavy rain can make rivers dangerous in this valley. The current condition of the West walkwire could not be confirmed, so check with DOC before relying on that crossing. Dogs are not allowed in Nelson Lakes National Park.

Downie Hut sits on a grassy flat by the forest edge and has four bunks. It is free and first come, with no booking. Its construction date is unknown, though graffiti inside dates to 1902. Local accounts differ on whether it began as a gold-mining base or a musterers’ hut; the story is still unsettled.

The lower slopes carry red and silver beech and kanuka on wetter ground; higher up, silver and mountain beech take over. The valley’s forest sits between the drier beech forests to the west and the mixed beech-podocarp forests farther toward North Westland. Red deer occur through the valley, and chamois are also present.