Toaroha Saddle Bivouac to Poet 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 Toaroha Saddle Bivouac to Poet Hut
Near Hokitika in West Coast, Toaroha Saddle Bivouac to Poet Hut runs 2.2 km as a point-to-point.
The fourth leg of the Lower Whitcombe round Dre is mapping for us with Hazel, and the shortest of the lot: 2.3 km that DOC gives 1.5 to 2 hours, which is Dre's figure exactly. From the bivouac you follow the poles down to the scrub line, where a well marked track drops steeply down the ridge to the Mungo River. Just above the river the track turns downstream on the true right and runs the last stretch to Poet Hut, four bunks with an open fire. One detail worth carrying in your head, because it is easy to get wrong at the end of a long day: you pass a swing bridge on the way in, and if you are staying at Poet Hut you do not cross it. DOC says so plainly on the track page. There is a second thing their page corrects too, which is that this leg does not actually go over the true Toaroha Saddle, it slips over a lower saddle to the west. The dog rule is the same as the rest of this country: dogs with a DOC permit only, the hunting-dog kind, sorted through the Hokitika DOC office before you leave home. This is advanced tramping ground. It is steep, the creek and river travel is unbridged, and the tops above the bivouac hold snow and ice through winter and into late spring, so pick a settled window and be willing to sit one out at a hut.
It sits at the hard end and gains roughly 30 m, and takes about 29 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.