Hunters Hut to Smyth Hut
Harihari · 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. All 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 in Franz Josef. (DOC, Wanganui valley tracks page and Wanganui hunting page.)”. 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 Hunters Hut to Smyth Hut
This long track follows 8.7 km as a point-to-point, near Harihari in West Coast.
The second day of Dre and Hazel's Wanganui trip: six hours from Hunters Hut on to Smyth Hut, on DOC's own timing, for experienced backcountry trampers only. From Hunters Hut you recross the cableway and take the tramping track on the true left of the Wanganui River, and DOC is upfront that access is difficult due to sustained flood damage. At Poker Bluff the track climbs high before dropping steeply back to the riverbed, then follows the river edge to Devastation Creek with two small bluff sections marked at each end by large orange markers. The last section crosses Devastation Creek, changeable ground, follow the markers, then climbs around steep bush hillsides and slips with several short boulder beach sections to Smyth Hut, six bunks on a terrace opposite the Smyth River. The swing bridge across the Wanganui here was destroyed in 2013 and is unlikely to be replaced. The dog rule is the valley's permit rule: dogs with a DOC permit only, with DOC's hunting page saying all areas are prohibited to dogs except where DOC has granted authorisation, through the DOC office in Franz Josef. There are hot pools in the riverbed about five minutes back downstream of Smyth Hut via a short marked side track, a good reward after the bluffs. The same weather rules as the lower valley apply doubled: no travel in rain or high river, and allow more time than the sign says.
It sits at the hard end and gains roughly 544 m, and takes about 2 hr 39 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.