Camp Stream Hut Track
Lake Tekapo · Canterbury
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 allowed. Keep dog under control at all times. Other pets on conservation land rules. (Department of Conservation, Camp Stream Hut Track page, Dog access panel.) Under control is doing real work on this one: it is an advanced tramping track on a poled route across open tussock in Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation Park, and the ground either side is high country run and conservation land rather than a fenced park”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Camp Stream Hut Track
Near Lake Tekapo in Canterbury, Camp Stream Hut Track runs 9.9 km.
The climb to Camp Stream Hut is the Te Araroa section that comes up off the eastern shore of Lake Tekapo, and DOC calls it 9 km one way and 3 to 4 hours. Our line makes it 10.0 km, which is the usual difference between a drawn route and a poled one. It is graded an advanced tramping track and that grade is honest. There is no formed path for most of it, just poles across tussock, and you need to be able to navigate if the cloud comes down. Getting there: turn off SH8 at Tekapo onto Lilybank Road, which is gravel, and watch for the Round Hill Snow Area access road. Drive 3 km up that to the formed carpark and walk from there. DOC says to look out for the poled route through Coal River and on towards the hut. The hut itself is a basic six bunk bivvy with heating, mattresses, a non-flush toilet and water from the stream. Dogs are allowed and DOC asks that you keep yours under control at all times. On this track that matters more than it does on a valley walk. You are on open country the whole way, the route runs through a DOC hunting block, and in winter this is ski touring ground with avalanche run-out to think about between June and November. Summer brings Te Araroa walkers through in numbers, so expect to share the hut. The stream crossings and the exposure are the two things to plan around. Cell coverage is patchy across the park, so leave your intentions with someone and carry a beacon. If the weather turns while you are up there, the poles are what you follow back down, and they are a good deal harder to pick out in flat light with a dog on your mind.
Expect hard going, with around 649 m of climb, and takes about 3 hr 4 min to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Daniel & Zola suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.