Cedar Flat Hut to Mullins Hut
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. More information below or contact the relevant DOC office. All conservation land areas are prohibited to dogs except where authorisation has been granted by DOC. People wishing to take a dog into this area should seek authorisation from the DOC office. (DOC, Kokatahi-Toaroha hunting area page, read 1 September 2026, whose Toaroha Valley huts list names Mullins Hut; permits come from the Hokitika DOC office. The route has no DOC track page of its own, so the block page is the rule that covers 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 Cedar Flat Hut to Mullins Hut
This long track follows 5.3 km as a point-to-point, near Hokitika in West Coast.
Mullins Hut sits well up the Toaroha behind Hokitika, and this is the leg in to it from Cedar Flat Hut. Our line makes it 5.3 km one way. From Cedar Flat you cross the Toaroha on the footbridge, turn up valley, and stay on the Toaroha Valley Track for a couple of kilometres before an unmarked spur leaves the valley floor and climbs to the hut. Dre, who sent this one in with Hazel, makes it roughly 3 hours, and that is a fair call for a fit party in good weather. Dogs need a DOC permit here, and that is not a formality. Mullins Hut is one of the huts DOC names on its Kokatahi-Toaroha page, which says plainly that all conservation land is prohibited to dogs except where authorisation has been granted, and that anyone wanting to bring a dog in should seek authorisation from the DOC office. Sort it with Hokitika before you drive out, because there is nobody at the road end to ask. Be honest about the ground before you commit a dog to it. DOC no longer maintains this one and it is looked after by the Permolat volunteers, so expect markers rather than benching, windfall across the track, and a surface that turns greasy in the wet. The spur up to the hut is the steep part and it is rough underfoot. The Toaroha rises fast in West Coast rain and the footbridge is your crossing, so if the river is up, getting back out is the day's real problem, not getting in.
Graded hard, it climbs about 505 m overall, and takes about 1 hr 54 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.