Branch Creek Hut | Kahurangi National Park
Getting to Branch Creek Hut appears to be an easy task if you are already up near Mt Owen. You just peel off the track, do a cross-country through the tussock, and hit the marked track through the forest. But it’s not so easy.
Most people these days head almost to the Mt Owen Summit, cross Poverty Basin, and go via the ridge from Replica Hill. Makes sense, as the ridge is flat and easy walking. Once at the forest edge, a new marked DOC track starts, and it’s a pretty fast downhill.
Okay, it’s a bit of a scramble up Replica Hill, but it avoids the bush bash down to Nugget Creek, a super steep drop where bluffs abound, and the swamp-on-a-slope on the few hundred metres to the start of the track. Note that the old track starts about 100 m west of where shown on the LINZ Topo50 map.
The old New Zealand Forest Service SF 70 standard six-bunk hut is seldom used and is therefore in excellent condition.
However, the small clearing is well-shaded, so the hut is damp and cold in winter, when direct sunlight is brief each day.
category . . . standard hut
hut fee . . . from 1 July 2026
Adult (18+ years): $15.00 per night
Youth (5–17 years): $7.50 per night
Child/Infant (0–4 years): free
Before you go, buy 1 Standard Hut Ticket (blue for adults, red for youth) for each night of your stay. Put this in the honesty box at the hut. A Backcountry Hut Pass is also valid year-round.
booking . . . not required all year for either hut or camping
campsite fee . . . free to camp
elevation . . . 930 m
bunks . . . 6 mattresses on bunks
built . . . early 1970s
heating . . . open fire.
water . . . 30 m each way to Fyfe Creek
toilet . . . longdrop, at the other end of the clearing.
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