Poet Hut to Bluff 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. Contact closest DOC office to get a permit. Other pets on conservation land rules. (DOC, Toaroha, Hokitika, Lower Whitcombe Track page; the Kokatahi-Toaroha hunting area page carries the same rule and the permits come from the Hokitika DOC 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.
About Poet Hut to Bluff Hut
Poet Hut to Bluff Hut is a point-to-point of 3.4 km, near Hokitika in West Coast.
Leg five of the Lower Whitcombe round, 3.7 km that DOC gives 3 to 4 hours, matching what Dre told us. The time is all in the terrain rather than the distance. From Poet Hut the travel down to the Bluff Swing Bridge is a mix of riverbed and track as far as Poet Creek, and there the track climbs steeply to sidle a face high above a gorge before dropping back down to the bridge. Cross the swing bridge, pick the track up again on the far side and it climbs steeply once more, this time onto the scrub and tussock bench high above the Hokitika River. Bluff Hut sits up there, six bunks and a woodstove. It is not on the old perch it was famous for: DOC moved the hut a few minutes along the track from where it used to stand. Dogs need a DOC permit only, the hunting-dog kind, arranged through the Hokitika DOC office before you go. Take the gorge sidle seriously in the wet, and treat the riverbed section the way you would any West Coast river, which is to say do not force it when it is up. From Bluff Hut the round carries on to Frew Saddle Bivouac and then Frew Hut, and we are building those next.
Expect hard going, with around 593 m of climb, and takes about 1 hr 40 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.