Duffy Creek Route
Reefton · 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 with a DOC permit only. Contact closest DOC office to get a permit. Other pets on conservation land rules. (DOC, Duffy Creek Route page; Victoria Forest Park is permit country across the board, and the page says to arrange the dog permit with the Māwhera / Greymouth office.)”. 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.
Opens your email app, addressed to [email protected]. You can also call DOC on 0800 275 362.
About Duffy Creek Route
Near Reefton in Canterbury, Duffy Creek Route runs 1.9 km.
A lovely day walk that is off the beaten track, as DOC puts it, and a rare piece of wilderness this close to a highway. The route starts on the true right of Duffy Creek, 400 m west of Tobins Bridge on SH7 near the Rahu Saddle, signposted from the road with good pull offs and parking. Dre, who sent this one in with Hazel, starts at the highway carpark and walks the valley through to the end. The line is a bit rough through the bush, but it is not far up to where the valley opens out at a large ephemeral lake, sometimes water, sometimes tussock flat, with big granite cliffs rising from the head of the valley. DOC calls it 3 hours return and grades it an expert route, which here means route finding and rough ground rather than climbing. The dog rule is DOC's permit rule for Victoria Forest Park: dogs with a DOC permit only, arranged before you go, and the route page says to sort it with the Māwhera / Greymouth office. From the Rahu Scenic Reserve at the roadside to the forest park up the valley, the whole walk is conservation land, so make the call before you make the drive. Because the valley floor holds an ephemeral lake, expect the going to change with the weather: after rain the flats can be properly wet, and the creek comes up fast like everything on this side of the divide. The Mount Haast Route climbs from the same stretch of SH7 a few kilometres east if you want the tops instead of the valley, under the same permit rule.
Graded expert, it climbs about 304 m overall, and takes about 53 min 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.
