Huts and Camping.

Notes by Don French

All mountain huts (with rare exceptions) are open to the public all year round. Most huts are administered by the Department of Conservation (DoC). The New Zealand Alpine Club (NZAC) also has huts in many areas of interest to climbers. Other tramping clubs also operate huts in mountain regions. DoC huts do not have wardens except those on the popular tourist routes.

Payment for DoC huts is by a prepaid ticket or an Annual Hut Pass. The charges depend upon the class of the hut, ranging in cost from Nil to $12 per night. Tickets, or Annual Passes, can be purchased from the local DoC office. If you are a NZAC member, you can get a 30% discount off the DoC Annual Hut Pass by presenting your FMC (Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand, to which the NZAC is affiliated), card when purchasing the Annual Pass.

Huts in the Mt Cook and Westland National Parks have cooking facilities and radio telephones, but DoC tickets can not be used within these Parks. Payment is made when exiting the park, at a rate of $14 per night. The tickets can not be used on some of the major tourist walks like the Milford Track.

The NZAC has a number of Base Huts which may be useful to the traveller like Unwin Hut at Mt Cook, or Porter Lodge at Fox Glacier. NZAC also owns and operates a number of High huts. There are special rates for NZAC members at these huts. More details can be found in the members handbook. Members of UIAA affiliated clubs will be charged at member rates in NZAC huts.

Wild camping is generally not a problem, but if wanting to camp on private land, please ask the land owner first. Trespass is a crime in New Zealand, even though very few people are prosecuted. It is more a matter of courtesy than anything else. Sometimes a farmer will not let you camp because the sheep are lambing and should not be disturbed. There are few camping regulations in our mountain areas, but camping may be restricted in some of the more heavily visited areas.

For camping in closer to civilisation, see the New Zealand Camping Guide.