Mount Adams Route
Whataroa · West Coast
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, Mount Adams Route page; DOC's track records list the permit here as the hunting-dog kind, and the page sends trampers to the Westland Tai Poutini National Park Visitor Centre in Franz Josef for the latest conditions.) The first kilometre is a farm track, so keep the dog close and do not block the farm gate when you park”. 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 Mount Adams Route
Near Whataroa in West Coast, Mount Adams Route runs 6.1 km.
The big one in the Whataroa area: a serious marked route from State Highway 6 to the bush edge high on Mount Adams, the 2208 m peak that watches over the road between Lake Ianthe and Lake Wahapo. DOC grades it an expert route and calls the climb to the bush edge 5 hours, which is exactly what Dre, who sent this one in with Hazel, reckons too. From the top of the marked route the views run across the alps, the Adams Wilderness Area and the whole coastline. The route starts on the northern side of the Little Man River (Dry Creek) bridge on SH6, about 10 km north of Whataroa. Park near the first gate without blocking the farm access, follow the farm track upstream for about a kilometre, then drop into the riverbed: around 2 hours of travel with repeated crossings to the second major tributary on the true right, where a large orange triangle about 50 m up from the confluence marks the forest entrance. That is the last water until the snowline. From there it is roughly 3 hours of very steep forest and subalpine scrub to the sloping tussock ridgeline, with camp spots between about 1545 m and 2100 m; the route was re-opened in 2009 and DOC clears the windfalls every couple of years. The dog rule is DOC's permit rule: dogs with a DOC permit only, arranged before you go, and DOC's track records list the permit here as the hunting-dog kind. Best in summer and autumn, and not a walk to start in or before rain: the rivers flood fast, and rockfall and avalanche are both on DOC's hazard list. DOC is explicit about where the walk ends: the marked route stops just past the bush line at two yellow and orange deer posts, and travel beyond that point is for mountaineers and people experienced in alpine travel. The page we draw is the marked route, bridge to bushline, and back the same way.
Graded expert, it climbs about 1,143 m overall, and takes about 3 hr 7 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.