Jacksons Creek to Richmond Saddle Hut

Jacksons Creek to Richmond Saddle Hut covers 6.2 km, near Renwick in Marlborough, walked as a point-to-point.

Four hours up from Jacksons Creek Road, four more on to Mt Fell Hut, and an hour from the hut to the summit of Mt Richmond. Dre sent us all three of those times and DOC's own hut page gives exactly the same three, which almost never happens. The road end is the commitment: 4.9 km north of Renwick, over the Wairau River bridge, onto Northbank Road for 33.1 km, then Top Valley Road and finally Jacksons Creek Road, which DOC says wants a 4WD. From there the marked track follows the prominent ridge the whole way, climbing to a saddle at the head of Armchair Stream between Mt Richmond at 1,760 m and Grass Knob at 1,495 m. The hut is a 1968 standard eight bunk, first come first served, no booking. Dogs are permit only here and there is no way around it. Mount Richmond Forest Park is a permit-only park for dogs throughout, and DOC's own track asset data puts that condition on this exact segment, road end to hut. It is the hunting-dog class of permit and you arrange it with the Whakatū / Nelson Visitor Centre before you drive out, not on the day at the road end. Dogs do not sleep inside DOC huts, so bring a way to secure yours outside overnight, and at 1,200 m in a saddle that means real bedding, not an afterthought. One honest note on our map line, because it is DOC's and it is coarse. We draw DOC's own GIS segment for the route, which measures 6.25 km against the 6.7 km DOC publishes on the hut page. It is a default line, so it runs smooth where the ridge actually kinks and it will read shorter than the ground. Plan on DOC's 6.7 km and four hours. The good news is that this one starts on the road end and finishes at the hut door, so the ends are honest even where the middle is smoothed. This is expert country and a two day trip as DOC grades it. The onward leg to Mt Fell Hut is a poled alpine route over Mt Richmond, sidling under Johnstons Peak and through Devils Armchair, with a 560 m descent off the summit that is rocky and steep in both directions, so think hard before taking a dog over it in poor visibility. Check two things before you commit: forestry operations can close the roads into Mount Richmond Forest Park, and the Marlborough storms have left road damage across the district, so read DOC's park road status page and the Marlborough District Council road updates on the day you travel.

It sits at the hard end and gains roughly 726 m, and takes about 2 hr 27 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.