Ashton Hut | Eyre Mountain/ Taka Ra Haka Conservation Park
An old New Zealand Forest Service four-bunker without a New Zealand Forest Service track makes it difficult to get to. Most climb up and over Point 1330, which is not without some effort. On a good day, the views are outstanding.
The more adventurous, and those with webbed feet, may take the water option. Plenty of river crossings, so only sensible in summer, but maybe not even so sensible then. Some deer tracks to follow, then boulder hopping and in the last kilometre, the river becomes a chasm, and it’s best to sidle above before climbing to the treeline.
The hut is excellent and newly renovated, with a much-needed water tank, toilet, roof, table, and flooring. It suffered from being located beneath an active slip with loose boulders and, originally, no easy access to water.
category . . . basic huts/bivvies
hut fee . . . free
booking . . . not required
elevation . . . 805 m
bunks . . . 4 mattresses on bunks
built . . . post-1962, renovated 2021
heating . . . open fire, adjacent to beech forest
water . . . 1000 litre rainwater tank
toilet . . . longdrop
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