Lodge

HutOtago

Getting there

We have not checked a road end or car park for this place yet, so we do not give driving directions to it. Check how to get there before you go. Some routes cross private land and need the landowner's permission.

Map and tracks

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Track lines: DOC Te Papa Atawhai. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Topo map: LINZ, CC BY 4.0. 44.49660° S, 168.77514° E

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On the way here

Leslie-Karamea Track · 6 to 9 days one way

Leslie-Karamea Track description

Time: 3 hr 30 min

13.2 km From the car park at the road end (36 km from Motueka), the track leads over Flora Saddle, past Flora Hut and up to Salisbury Lodge on the Tablelands. Just beyond the lodge is the sign where the Leslie-Karamea track itself begins. km From the Leslie-Karamea Track sign, a line of poles runs to the bush edge at the top of Leslie Hill and begins descending to the Leslie River. After about one hour downhill, Splugeons Rock Shelter is reached. Beyond the shelter the track drops steeply to the Leslie River, crossing via a swingbridge. It then follows the true left bank down to Karamea Bend Hut. 9.7 km The track heads up the Karamea River on the true right bank, crossing Slippery Creek and a clearing, the Little Backwash and the Big Backwash. Just over the Crow River swingbridge is Crow Hut. When the Karamea River is low, it is possible to follow the riverbed from Karamea Bend almost to the Crow. 5.9 km The track continues on the true right bank for about one hour to a bridge across the Karamea River. Across on the left bank the track sometimes scrambles around the riverside but mostly stays on forested terraces alongside the river to Venus Hut. 5.7 km This section follows the river terraces, sometimes merging with the riverside and riverbed. Mercury Creek, about 30 minutes above Venus Hut, is a major side stream spanned by a swingbridge. Near Atlas Creek the track hugs the cliffs above the river and is fairly narrow. Thor Hut is just across Thor Creek, on the edge of a slip caused by the 1929 Murchison Earthquake. 9.5 km Upriver from Thor Hut the track climbs and makes a long sidle, crossing several earthquake-triggered slips where care is needed. One of these slips, which came down Apollo Creek from Mt Kendall (1762m), dammed the Karamea River forming Moonstone Lake. The lake backs up for almost three kilometres and some of the trees drowned during its formation still stand as naked trunks. At the head of the lake continue on the true left of the Karamea River to Kendall Creek, which divides into several streams near its mouth and is dangerous when in flood. The track rounds a granite spur and crosses a grassy flat to the old Trevor Carter Hut site (hut removed in 2003). Cross the swingbridge onto the true right of the Karamea River and walk downstream for 15 minutes to Trevor Carter Hut. When the Karamea River is running low, an alternative track is signposted to Trevor Carter Hut on the main track before reaching Kendall Creek.

Other entry points

Time: 8 hr

From the head of the Cobb Reservoir a track climbs up to Cobb Ridge and then heads on to Lake Peel, Balloon Hut (serviced, 14 bunk) and Salisbury Lodge (serviced, 22 bunk). A tramping track follows the Baton River upstream for three hours to Flanagans Hut (standard, 8 bunk), from where a marked route climbs to Baton Saddle (1370 m). On the Leslie side a tramping track descends to Wilkinson Creek and follows it to the Leslie River, down to the Karamea Bend Hut (standard, 22 bunk).

The whole walk

Source: DOC Te Papa Atawhai.

We only have the basics for this place so far: its name, its type and where it is.

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Trip options

Walking times come from DOC track descriptions, added up leg by leg from car-accessible trailheads. Nights and return times are ParkUp estimates, allowing about 8 hours of walking a day.

2 options · 1 to 5 nights

Flora car park

1 nightLeslie-Karamea Track from Flora car park

Walking in

4 hr 30 min

Walking out

4 hr 30 min to Flora car park

5 nightsLeslie-Karamea Track from Flora car park to Karamea Bend Hut

Walking in

4 hr 30 min

Walking out

37 hr 15 min to Karamea Bend Hut (via Crow Hut, Venus Hut, Thor Hut, Trevor Carter Hut, Helicopter Flat Hut)

Source: DOC Te Papa Atawhai track descriptions.

On these tracks

Leslie-Karamea TrackAdvanced • 91 km • 6 to 9 days one way

Source: DOC Te Papa Atawhai.

Nearby stops

Anti Crow Hut

Standard • 8 bunks • Canterbury • 275.7 km

Anti Crow Hut is a standard eight-bunk hut located in the North Canterbury and Arthur's Pass area of Canterbury.