Waitawheta Hut from Franklin Rd

The Waitawheta valley in the northen Kaimai ranges offers a fairly easy and scenic 3 hour tramp from Franklin Rd into the large and comfortable Waitawheta hut. The valley has a lot of history in kauri logging and gold mining. The track is very well maintained with information boards giving you an insight into the areas past. There are still unbridged river crossings along the way to the hut which can be slippery over the boulders.

During normal river flows the crossings are pretty easy but if the river comes up it can quickly become uncrossable. There are alternate ways out from the hut to Te Aroha, Woodlands rd or via the Mangakino pack track so you can either wait it out at the hut or take one of those options.

The track through the valley is one of the flattest around which is pretty amazing when you see how steep some of the surrounding terrain is.

The 26 bunk Waitawheta hut. This is a serviced hut which in this case means it is stocked up with firewood. There is no gas for cooking.

The view from the hut.

There are a few tracks around the hut that have some old relics from the sawmill that used to be there.