Adventure Bivvy to Top Kokatahi Hut over Zit Saddle
Hokitika · West Coast · Point to Point
This walk was suggested by the community and checked against the authority quoted above before it was published. The route line comes from official track data. DOC’s own wording: “Dogs with a DOC permit only. Contact closest DOC office to get a permit. Other pets on conservation land rules. (DOC, Toaroha, Hokitika, Lower Whitcombe Track page, read 28 August 2026.) DOC's own asset data says the same thing twice over: WEB_DOGS_ALLOWED reads “Dogs with DOC permit -hunting” on both of the published lines this walk is made of, the Adventure Ridge Route and the Zit Saddle To Top Kokatahi Hut Route. Worth knowing what does NOT set the rule here: this ground sits in the Hokitika hunting block, and that block page states no dog conditions of its own, it only says to refer to the DOC website. The whole line is DOC conservation land, the Wanganui / Otira Catchments stewardship area, checked against DOC's Public Conservation Land layer on 28 August 2026, so the permit from the Hokitika office is what makes a dog lawful on it”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
A DOC dog permit is required before any dog walks here. DOC codes this land for the hunting-dog permit, so it is not a casual dog walk. Ask the DOC office before planning to bring a dog.
About Adventure Bivvy to Top Kokatahi Hut over Zit Saddle
Adventure Bivvy to Top Kokatahi Hut over Zit Saddle is a point-to-point of 3.4 km, near Hokitika in West Coast.
The alpine leg. This is Adventure Bivvy along the top of Adventure Ridge to Zit Saddle at 1542 m, then down the other side towards Top Kokatahi Hut, and it is the crossing that gives Dre's whole round its name. About 3.4 km on the map and Dre puts it at 3 to 4 hours, which again tells you the distance is not the point. It is leg three of the nine leg round Dre sent us, the Toaroha to Zit Saddle to Kokatahi to Lathrop Saddle to Styx circuit. Legs one and two are already on the site, so this picks up on the exact vertex where Cedar Flat Hut to Adventure Bivvy puts you down. From the bivvy at about 920 m the route climbs the ridge to the saddle, which is the high point of the day and of the line, and then loses height steadily into the Kokatahi. Our line stops about 175 m short of Top Kokatahi Hut because that is where DOC's published geometry stops, and we will not draw ground we cannot source. The hut is in sight of the end of it. This is the part of the round that decides your trip. DOC grades this corridor advanced tramping track and expert route, and says plainly that the alpine sections demand experience and good route finding skills in anything other than fine weather. A saddle at 1542 m on the Main Divide side of the West Coast is a serious place to be caught out, and there is no easy escape between the two huts. Top Kokatahi Hut itself is the better end to aim for, with heating, mattresses, a toilet and a water supply, where Adventure Bivvy behind you is two bunks and a roof. Dogs need a DOC permit and there is no way around it. Every metre of this is DOC conservation land in the Wanganui and Otira Catchments stewardship area, and DOC says dogs with a permit only, from the closest office, which is Hokitika. That is on the track page and it is on DOC's own record for both of the lines this walk is built from, so there is no ambiguity to lean on. Sort it before you leave. From Top Kokatahi the round carries on to Crawford Junction Hut, another 4 to 5 hours by Dre's reckoning, and that leg is now on the site too.
It sits at the expert end and gains roughly 567 m, and takes about 1 hr 37 to walk.
A DOC dog permit is required before any dog walks here. Arrange it with the managing DOC office ahead of your trip. This walk is on the map because Dre & Hazel suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.