Whitcombe Valley to Rapid Creek 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, Whitcombe Pass Track page; the whole valley is stewardship conservation land, DOC's track records list the permit here as the hunting-dog kind, and the permits come from the Hokitika DOC office. DOC's Hokitika-Whitcombe hunting page adds that all conservation land areas are prohibited to dogs except where authorisation has been granted by DOC.)”. 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 Whitcombe Valley to Rapid Creek Hut
This long track follows 8.0 km as a point-to-point, near Hokitika in West Coast.
The Whitcombe is the serious valley behind the Hokitika Gorge: turn up Whitcombe Valley Road from Kowhitirangi and drive to the locked gate and car park at the road end, watching for the flood-prone stretch part way along that sometimes shuts the road to vehicles. Over the stile a marked 4WD road runs about 1.7 km to the Hokitika River, then the route travels the riverbed and a benched track up the true right of the gorge. Just below Rapid Creek the track crosses the Hokitika River on a cableway, and the hut, a standard four bunk with a wood stove, sits on the far bank. Dre, who sent this one in, makes it 2.5 to 3.5 hours from the car park, which is exactly DOC's time. One quirk DOC spells out: ignore the locked cableway at the road end, the working one is up the valley by the hut. The dog rule is DOC's permit rule for the whole valley: dogs with a DOC permit only, arranged with the Hokitika DOC office before you drive out. Everything past the farmland is stewardship conservation land, and DOC treats a pet there without written permission as an offence. The cableway is the day's pinch point for a dog, you are winching yourself across a gorge in a cage, so the dog rides held and under control, exactly as Dre does it with Hazel. This is an advanced tramping track for fit, well equipped and experienced backcountry parties, and this page maps only the first leg of the Whitcombe Pass Track. Beyond the hut the valley goes on to Frew Hut, Price Flat, Neave Hut and finally Whitcombe Pass, three to four days of hard travel, and the first obstacle past the hut is Rapid Creek itself: DOC has removed the swing bridge after erosion undermined it, so the creek is only crossable in low to normal flows and becomes impassable quickly after rain. Treat the hut as the day's destination, carry a locator beacon, and follow the cableway operating instructions to the letter.
Graded hard, it climbs about 154 m overall, and takes about 1 hr 51 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.
