An overview of a what to expect in a DOC Hut...

 Backcountry huts: A guide for new trampers...

One of the unique things you will encounter tramping in New Zealand are the Department of Conservation (DOC) huts which are such a feature of outdoor life here. We have 950+ back country huts scattered around the country which can be used for a very minimal charge.

That first tantalising glimpse of your home for the night...Magdalen Hut

Your average Kiwi tramper will probably stay in huts for 90% of the time when tramping, the other 10% will be camping. Given New Zealand's sometimes tumultuous weather having a solid roof over your head can be a real god send. 

A good hut has an awesome location...Nina Hut, Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve

 I don't know about you but huts are one of the things I most enjoy about tramping. 

A breakdown of DOC hut amenities

I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the amenities DOC huts contain as well as discussing some of the rules of good hut etiquette before you start your tramping adventures.

Living Space:

  Most of the larger huts will have some sort of living area, what this entails varies from hut to hut. Generally this will consist of a table of some description with wooden benches, a cooking bench (see below), heating source (see below) and possibly some shelving space. 

Cooking space in Luxmore Hut, Kepler Track

 

If we look at a specific hut, Boyle Flat Hut on the St James Walkway we can see what the hut contains in the way of living space. This is one of my favorite huts, I have been here several times now and I have always enjoyed my stay.

Boyle Flat Hut, St James Walkway

As you can see below there are several tables with bench seating, there is also a very nice bench seat under the window. There are a series of drying wires across the living space for trampers to dry their gear on.

Living area in Boyle Flat Hut

In this photo we can see the integrated gun rack that has been built for this hut, there is a book shelf with some reading material and some information panels on the walls. 

Looking towards the bunk room in Boyle Flat Hut

  The other side of the room has a cooking bench along the wall, with shelf units above and below it. The sleeping area at Boyle Flat consists of two separate 10 bunk rooms. This hut was built by the resource rich Walkways Commission back in the early 1980's so it has a much higher level of amenity than your more typical 4 or 6 bunk hut.

Other side of Boyle Flat Hut living area..bunkrooms....

Compare Boyle Flat Hut to the classic NZFS 6 bunk Anti-Crow Hut in Arthur's Pass NP. The New Zealand Forestry Service (NZFS) was the precursor to DOC, they had generic 2, 4, 6 and 8 bunk hut designs which they scattered wildly about the country. The six bunk design or NZFS70 was the most common as it could hold a team of dear cullers with space to spare. An old NZFS hut has all the same amenities as a larger hut but in a much more compact form.

Classic entrance and food/gear storage in Anti Crow hut...

Anti Crow Hut interior: bunks, bench and wood burner...

 Generally these smaller huts are an open room design, they will not have a separate table but will still have a cooking bench, seats, heating source and shelving in the living area.

Sleeping areas:

Many of the DOC huts were built as overnight shelter for NZFS forestry workers, deer cullers and musterers so of course they needed sleeping facilities. Some of the older huts still have the original canvas/burlap sacking bunks which was the standard format up till the late 1960's. This consists of a piece of canvas stretched over poles to make a hammock like bunk. 

Canvas sacking bunks, West Harper Hut, Craigieburn FP

If you never have the doubtful pleasure of sleeping in a sacking bunk just let me say...they are damn uncomfortable!

Far more common are huts with mattresses and bunks/sleeping platforms. A sleeping platform is one large expanse of wood or concrete which you top with the supplied mattresses. This is the most economical use of space as 10 people can fit on a sleeping platform that will only hold 6 individual bunks.

Sleeping platform in Moonlight Tops Hut, Paparoa Track

Let us look once again at the facilities at Boyle Flat Hut.  Boyle Flat is a 20 bunker, i.e. it has space for 20 people to sleep inside. In this case the sleeping areas consist of two bunk rooms separated by a wall. The bunks in this particular hut are of the "sleeping platform" type and can accommodate 10 people per room in two layers.

Sleeping platforms at Boyle Flat Hut

Bunks are individual spaces, just big enough for the standard DOC foam mattresses to fit on and are more common with huts built after the mid 1970's. All DOC huts can be partially characterised by the number of bunks supplied: for example Anne Hut is a 24 bunk hut, whereas tiny Harpers Pass Bivouac is a 2 bunk.

Individual bunks in Anti Crow Hut, Arthur's Pass NP

Some huts will also have you sleeping on the floor, an example being Lagoon Saddle Hut in Craigieburn FP. There is a combined table/sleeping platform for one person in the hut, the other two residents sleep on the floor on the mattresses provided.

Lagoon Saddle Shelter, 1 person sleeping space (2 more on floor)

When you leave in the morning you need to stack the mattresses on their sides in an orderly fashion, this protects them from dust, vermin and mildew. It is good hut etiquette to stack the mattresses in this fashion...

Nicely stacked mattresses in Christopher Hut

A note concerning bunk reservations:

 If you are hiking with a group and arrive piecemeal, good hut etiquette dictates that you cannot reserve a bunk for your mate....they need to be there in person to claim a bunk. This holds true for a Great Walk hut as well...even though the bunks are pre booked you still take your bunks when you arrive at the hut. 

 Hut floors, tables, decks and verandas make great back ups if the bunks are all taken and this is  perfectly allowable (I have slept on a floor and a hut table a couple of times...). You can sleep in your tent and only use the hut for cooking, socialising etc. if that proves necessary.

Packhorse Hut, Banks Peninsula, 10 bunks...awesome views!

Please share the hut: if there are 6 of you in a 6 bunk hut and a group of 4 arrive move over, make room for them and welcome them in. It might be cramped but they have as much right to be there as you do. This is how a real kiwi tramper acts...be a real kiwi tramper!!

Verandas/Decks:

There is a trend in the newer huts to include both verandas and decks to maximise the usable living space. Decks are a welcome addition to huts, as they provide space to sit in the sun, dry out gear, firewood and generally stop mud from entering the hut itself. There is nothing finer of an afternoon than sitting on a sunny, sand fly free deck supping a hot brew.

Anne Hut, the wrap around deck look...

 

Verandas are often built onto existing huts to provide a place for hanging wet gear out of the rain as well as providing storage areas for firewood. They range in size from small alcoves right through to fully enclosed secondary rooms.

Boyle Flat Hut, open deck and enclosed veranda

Inside the Lakehead Hut veranda, Nelson Lakes NP

If you arrive at a hut or shelter and it has a wet/mud room please hang your wet gear here until it is dry enough to bring into the main part of the hut. Water in the hut is a slip hazard, can make the inside of the hut wet and can rot out floor boards. Try to keep it outside where it doesn't matter where it drips...

 Water sources:

With some exceptions every DOC hut will have one of two types of water source: a water tank or a nearby potable stream or river.

Your source of water, the Robinson Rive, Victoria Forest Park

The vast majority of huts will still get their water from a nearby stream or river but this is changing. With climate change, drier weather and more people visiting back country areas these water sources either disappear or become vectors for sickness. The solution is large capacity rain water tanks.

Boyle Flat Hut, stream fed water tank

Increasingly DOC huts are provided with a rainwater tank, these take rainwater from the hut gutters and store it in large capacity tanks. This is especially prevalent in low precipitation areas like the Richmond Range and at those huts atop ridge lines or on drier east facing hills. There will be no running water around the hut in this kind of terrain...

 

Magdalen Hut, brand new rain water tank next to hut

 All new huts are built to this standard and more and more older ones are having them added as maintenance is done on the huts. Eventually all of the huts managed by DOC will get the majority of their water from rainwater tanks.

New huts will maximise water tank storage...Porairiri Hut, Paparoa Track

Water is a precious resource please conserve it: take only what you need.

NB: Not all of the backcountry huts are owned & maintained by DOC, a lot are owned by 4 W/D, hunting, skiing, mountaineering clubs and increasing numbers are maintained by volunteers. Generally private huts will exclusively get water from tanks as many of them are built closer to civilisation and hence possible contamination

Cooking spaces:

  Cooking mishaps are the number two reason huts burn down (number one is unattended fireplaces etc...) so DOC have provided us with metal cooking benches for our stoves. Please use these as cooking on one of the wooden tables or the floor of a hut can easily cause a fire. Next time you go tramping count the number of scorch marks on tables, wooden benches and floors. I counted eight in the nearly new (2020) Manson Nichols Hut recently so that is eight times the hut could have burnt down.....

  

Small Hut: Magdalen Hut, Lake Sumner FP: the cooking bench

In the newer huts these benches will be stainless steel, generally with a vertical metal splash back on the nearby walls. There will be a window for ventilation and candle holders or solar lighting panels to illuminate the area. Newer Great Walk huts have solar lighting exclusively but some of the older huts will still have candles for you to use. 

Inside a larger hut: Lakehead Hut cooking area, table and bench

In the older huts the bench will be made of zinc covered wood but they provide the same fire protection for the hut. Watch the walls as they seldom if ever had fire retardant materials on them. Some popular huts may have pots, pans, utensils etc. but don't count on this, bring your own. 

Classic NZFS zinc covered cooking bench, Mid Robinson Hut

 

Some of the bookable/Great Walk huts have gas cookers for you to use while staying in the hut. If they are present you are free to use the gas for heating water and cooking food free of charge. Check the DOC website for details of the facilities in the hut you intend to visit. 

Two of the supplied gas cookers in Moonlight Tops Hut

Please try to conserve supplied gas as it must be helicoptered into place at great expense. 

Hut etiquette note:

Please make sure you have adequate ventilation while using a stove. Cookers, solid fuel, white spirit, meth's and gas canisters all give off carbon monoxide in use...open a window so it can escape. Be extremely careful when refilling gas bottles or changing canisters as fire is a real risk at that time...stay away from any naked flames. 

Campsite cooking shelters:

Many of the established DOC camp grounds will have a covered shelter where you can cook and hang out. Generally these are set up like a hut: steel/zinc covered bench, picnic table with seating or benches and water supply from tank or stream. They will often have cleaning and toilet facilities located nearby. 

Cooking shelter, Bay of Many Coves, Queen Charlotte Track

The Bark Bay kitchen shelter, Abel Tasman NP

Campsite cook shelter, Lake Daniell, Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve

Maori Beach camp shelter, Rakuira Track

If the bugs aren't too bad these are excellent places to mingle with other trampers out of the rain and usually protected from wind. Watch where your food/rubbish is stored as they are easier for rodents, birds and other pests to access. 

Fire places and wood burners:

Most DOC huts in will have a fireplace, gas heater or wood burner in them. These are there to provide heating as well as a place to dry your wet gear out. All Great Walk Huts will have heating either wood, coal or gas depending on location, size of the hut and conservancy. 

The wood burner at Manson Nichols Hut, Lake Daniell

What you wont always get is something to burn...only the Great Walk and Serviced huts will have a fuel supply- usually in a nearby woodshed. Otherwise it is up to you to provide the fuel by scavenging in the local forest. 

An open fireplace at West Harper Hut, Craigieburn Range

Firewood waiting to go into the wood shed at Lakehead Hut

A sight to gladden any budding pyromaniacs heart...a full wood shed!

All huts with wood heating will have either an axe (usually chained to the wood shed) or a bow saw for cutting firewood.  Please return them to their spot so other trampers can use them in the future. You should learn a few axe skills if this is not something you are familiar with as you will usually only find large pieces of wood in the wood shed. I might write a blog post about it....

With axe and saw we get firewood...

...and fire!!!!

 Please don't steal the tools: some day a cold, wet and potentially hypothermic tramper might turn up at that hut and find no means to cut wood for a vital fire. Consider your actions...it would be tantamount to manslaughter!!!

Fuel for the wood burner at Magdalen Hut, St James Walkway

Hut etiquette note:

Please do not cut up the furniture, decks, doors etc. and burn it (yes people have done this), not only is it ridiculous it also the number one way to get off side with fellow trampers. If I turn up at a hut and I see you shoving the last piece of the table into the fire rest assured I will tear you a new one....

Please do not cut down the 200 year old tree next to the hut....go find some standing dry in the forest and cut it up with the axe or saw provided. Look for standing trees that are dead but not rotting, these will often burn extremely well. 

Wet wood will not burn...green wood will not burn...rotten wood WILL NOT BURN so please don't gather it up.

Don't use all the wood, replace the dry wood you use so the next visitors have some. Wet wood will dry in a couple of days if you stack it carefully in the wood shed...

Unfortunately I have to say these things because these are all examples I have encountered myself or heard about. Basically...some people are stupid!!!

Nothing like a blazing fire...Lakehead Hut

Make sure the fireplace is cleared or at least fully out before you leave. A lot of huts have burnt down because of careless ash handling. Dowse them or put them in the ash barrel if there is one. As a last resort leave the cooling ashes in the fireplace with the door firmly shut, at least they wont burn down the hut if they are contained.

Ash barrel at Lakehead Hut, Nelson Lakes NP

Finally, if it is a sweltering 30 degree summer day don't light the fire, it is not necessary. You are just wasting firewood and irritating your hut mates. I have told many people about the time I turned up to John Tait Hut on a sweltering summers day to find a couple of near naked German lads broiling themselves in front of a red hot (literally...it was red hot and glowing) wood burner. It must have been 60 degrees inside the hut...madness!!!!

Cheers!

Toilet facilities:

Ah... a subject dear to the heart of all trampers....toilets!

Almost all of the 900+ DOC huts will have toilet facilities of one sort or another, the quality will depend on popularity of the hut, its age, location and users. Usually the older or smaller the hut the less habitable the toilet....

Where there be people there be long drop....

The toilets will range from very basic long drops right through to palatial toilet mansions with flushing toilets, sinks, fresh water, a disco ball and even a supply of paper in some cases.

Most basic toilet...a handy patch of bush...

A "bog" standard DOC long drop toilet

Better: Slightly more up market facilities, Hawdon Hut

Oh yeah!!!: High quality DOC campground toilet block

Two things to consider:

1.  Bring your own paper as 98% of the DOC facilities will not have any. Even some of the Great Walks will not supply toilet paper....

2.  USE THE TOILETS! There was a lot of hate for Te Araroa thru hikers in the media several years ago as tales of sordid toilet habits were made public. It seems that some people were "doing their business" outside hut doors, around huts and right on tracks rather than using the toilets provided.

It was probably not TA walkers but that is who got blamed.

A toilet with a view at Hanging Valley Shelter, Kepler Track

Don't be that guy or gal... if there is a toilet available then bloody well use it!

If you must "s - - t in the woods" do it right and bury your waste at least 100 meters away from water/tracks/huts.

Miscellaneous Hut Gear:

Stuff you will commonly find in a DOC Hut:

• Broom (Hint: You use it to sweep the floor...)
• Ash bucket for the fire
• Axe and/or saw for cutting firewood
• Half brush and shovel
• A green DOC hut visitors book...make sure you fill it in...

Axe and bow saw, Mt Rintoul Hut, Richmond FP

Stuff you might find in a hut but don't rely on it:

• Buckets/bowls/pots/pans
• Cleaning materials/soap/dishwashing liquid
• Reading matter-books, magazines, bibles or a set of Encyclopedia Britannica (Magdalen Hut in 2017...). I often take a paper with me both to read and to leave as fire starters. 
• Paper/matches/lighter for starting a fire (make sure you have two forms of fire starter on you at all times)
• Pack of Cards/dice/chessboard/puzzles
• Spare tramping food left by other visitors....if you are going to do this the food should be in a container rodents and vermin cannot get into. It is no fun having rats run over your face at 2am in the morning...

Cleaning materials at Hawdon Hut

 Weird stuff I have found in a hut:

• an unopened 750ml bottle of expensive red wine (seriously...why didn't you just drink it...it was delicious by the way).
• A pair of lavender frilly French knickers?
• an unused 12 pack of condoms...found near the knickers...say no more!!!!
• One sized 10 Vasque boot??????
• a kiddie paddling pool???????

 

Use them....don't abuse them!

Outdoor loving kiwis are justifiably proud of our hut network and we are also very protective of it. We are privileged to be able to use these huts, just imagine how different the New Zealand outdoor experience would be without them.

East Hawdon Biv, Arthurs Pass NP

Please remember huts are a finite resource: DOC is strapped for cash so if you damage a hut or burn it down it will probably not be repaired or replaced....Casey Hut in Arthur's Pass is a case in point. It was only rebuilt after a private donation of over $250 000 was given to DOC otherwise it was not going to be replaced as they had no money. 

Watch for fire, water ingress, vermin and other hazards. If you see damage report it to the nearest DOC office so they can fix it or do the repairs yourself. DOC might only get to that hut every three years so they wont know stuff is broken if you don't tell them.

If you see someone damaging a hut report them...don't confront them as it is not safe. DOC and the Police really enjoy punishing those bastards that shoot up or vandalise huts. A group of drunken vandals recently received jail time for doing over $100 000 damage to a hut down in South Canterbury. Someone followed them back to their cars and wrote down the registration numbers....

Casey Hut II, Arthurs Pass NP (2020)

Please fill in the hut book, DOC maintain these huts based on the number of visitors to them and hut book statistics are their main source of data. No data....no maintenance! 

Standard DOC hut visitors book

Pay your hut fees........I do, so should you. This includes all kiwi trampers...no you haven't already paid for them with your taxes. Trevor Taxpayer paid for them back in 1971 when the hut was built! There are no excuses for you to not pay to stay...

A one year DOC hut pass costs about $140 - how many coffees is that: 30! An annual hut pass is good value...you only need to use it about 12 times to make it pay its way and it is easier than carrying around hut tickets. I used mine over 20 times in 2020/2021...

 

If in doubt, treat the hut like you would your own home, thanks very much...

Cheers!!!