Huts of the Te Araroa Trail: St James Walkway section

 A look at the huts along the St James Walkway

 I recently finished walking the St James Walkway and I thought it would be worth looking at the fantastic array of huts you will find along the track. There are seven huts and one shelter along the Walkway and they provide overnight accommodation and sheltered spots for the folk who are tramping here.

Here I am on Anne Saddle on the St James Walkway

The St James Walkway is a 67 kilometer long track taking in several river valleys and crossing the border of the Lewis Pass National Reserve, St James Conservation Area and Lake Sumner Forest Park. 

I walked the St James Walkway from Lewis Pass Tarn to Boyle Village so let's follow the huts in that direction and find out a bit more about each of them..

About the St James Walkway:

In the early 1970's the Walkways Commission and the Department of Internal Affairs were trying to encourage more people into the outdoors. One way was through the construction of easier Walkways which was an early attempt at Great Walks. The St James Walkway was the only one to actually be completed before their interest waned. 

Start of the St James Walkway at Lewis Pass

Walkways Commission marker on Cannibal Gorge Swingbridge

The St James Walkway is a rough half circuit so you can start from either end and end up back on SH 7. The two ends of the track are separated by 20 kilometers of SH 7 so it is not possible to walk all the way back to your car. 

You will need to either hitch a ride back to your start point or use the 'own car' shuttle service offered by the Boyle Outdoor Education Center. For a small fee they will drive you to Lewis Pass Tarn (in your own car) and then take your car back for secure storage at the center. It is worth doing it this way as Lewis Pass Carpark is notorious for vandalism of cars. 

Turn off to the St James Walkway at the Lewis Pass Carpark

Most people tramp the St James Walkway from Lewis Pass Tarn to Boyle Settlement to take advantage of the terrain. This was the direction I walked the track.

Lewis Pass Tarn to Ada Pass Hut: Day 1

The first day on the St James Walkway is the walk from the Lewis Pass carpark to Cannibal Gorge or Ada Pass Hut. I walked through to Ada Pass Hut so it was 10 km's over 5-6 hours...

Lewis Pass Shelter:

Lewis Pass Shelter is the first structure on the Walkway built as shelter for people tramping the track. It is located next to the tarn at the Lewis Pass Carpark just east of the pass itself. From this carpark there is access to a variety of walks and tracks including the Lewis Pass Nature Walk, Lewis Pass Tarn Walk, Lewis Pass Tops Track and the St James Walkway. 

Spencer Range is visible from the Lewis Pass carpark

The shelter is a three sided affair with seating and information panels inside. There is enough space here for about 10 people at any given time. It is mostly water proof and makes an ideal spot to wait if you have transport coming to collect you from this end of the track. 

Lewis Pass Shelter, Lewis Pass National Reserve

View of the rear of Lewis Pass Shelter

There is a small water tank attached to the highway side of the shelter and a vault style toilet to the rear. The shelter is surrounded by Beech forest and it is just possible to see both the carpark and the tarn from inside the structure. 

There is a water tank on the side of the Lewis Pass Shelter

Classic DOC backcountry vault toilet at Lewis Pass Tarn

Make sure you go have a look at the Lewis Pass Tarn before you leave. It is a really lovely alpine lake with fantastic opportunities for photography. It is less than a two minute walk to the lookout over the tarn from the shelter. On a calm, still day you get a great mirror image of the nearby mountains

View over Lewis Pass Tarn from near the shelter

From here you start the track proper as you make your way along the St James Walkway to the first hut of the day Cannibal Gorge Hut. 

Specifications:

Day Shelter: (Not for overnight stay) water from tank, vault toilet, internal seating

Cannibal Gorge Hut:

Cannibal Gorge Hut is the first hut along the track and it is sits on the edge of a large river flat about four hours along the track. If you are starting the track later in the day this is the place you should be aiming for as it is within striking distance of Lewis Pass. 

View of Cannibal Gorge Hut from across the river flats

Cannibal Gorge Hut was built in the late 1970's so it is starting to look its age. If the St James ever becomes a Great Walk (as has been suggested) then I would expect all the huts to be replaced or seriously upgrade. For the moment...you gets what you gets!!! 

Cannibal Gorge Hut, Lewis Pass National Reserve

The hut has 20 bunks in an unusual three tier bunkroom set up...there are three platforms for the mattresses to sit on so your head space is lower than usual. There is one bunkroom with 9 spaces and another with 11. I have never seen this set up before but I know there are a couple of other huts across the country organised this way. 

Unusual three tier bunks in Cannibal Gorge Hut

There is plenty of living space in the hut and over the summer there will often be a hut warden in residence in a separate bunkroom attached to the hut. There is a good wood burner here and if there is firewood it will quickly heat up the hut and bunkrooms. 

Cannibal Gorge Hut: cooking and dining area

I stopped at Cannibal Gorge Hut just long enough to eat some lunch before continuing along the Walkway to my destination for the night...Ada Pass Hut. 

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 20 bunks, water from tanks, wood burner, vault toilets, picnic table

Ada Pass Hut:

Ada Pass Hut is the second along the route of the St James Walkway and it is roughly 5-6 hours from the start of the track up at Lewis Pass. This will be the destination for the majority of trampers starting at this end of the Walkway so bring a tent just in case it is full. 

Ada Pass Hut, St James Conservation Area

The hut is of the 'one big room' type so the bunkroom is separated from the living area by a half wall. These are much easier to heat but it does mean you can sometimes be a bit too hot overnight. I've been to Ada Pass Hut three times now and I really like it...it is not a flash hut but it does the job you need it to do. 

Nice veranda at the front of Ada Pass Hut

There is a stunning view up towards Three Tarn Pass from the hut veranda...this is an entry point to the Matakitaki Valley as well as Nelson Lakes NP. It is awesome to sit outside and look at the mountains that frame your line of sight. 

View to Three Tarn Pass from Ada Pass Hut

Ada Pass Hut was built in the late 1970's so it is looking a bit tired but it is still a perfectly usable hut with plenty of space for its allotted 14 occupants. If the St James ever becomes a Great Walk this hut will need to be enlarged or replaced to cope with larger numbers. 

Ada Pass Hut: living space inside

There is plenty of space in front of the hut for tents and of the various huts on this track Ada Pass Hut is usually the one where you might need to camp. It gets traffic from three directions so it can often be full during the holidays and over long weekends.

...lots of flat space in front of Ada Pass Hut...

Cooking some kai at Ada Pass Hut, St James Walkway

I certainly appreciated Ada Pass Hut later that day when it started raining...it would have been a wet old night if you had been camping here and not in a hut. 

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 14 bunks, water from tank, wood burner, long-drop toilet, coal supplied

Ada Pass Hut to Christopher Hut: Day 2

Day two covers the St James Walkway from Ada Pass to Christopher Hut. It is roughly 11 kilometers over 4-5 hours. Some people continue on to Anne Hut which is another 13 kilometers over 4-5 hours making for a long 25 kilometer 8+ hour day. This is what I did back in 2015 when I last walked the track...it was a bloody long way!

Ada Cullers Hut:

The first hut you will pass enroute for Christopher Hut is the historic Ada Cullers Hut. This is an old deer cullers hut built in the late 1950's and at one time it would have been home to a pair of hunters shooting deer in the Ada and Christopher Valleys. 

Approaching Ada Cullers Hut, St James Conservation Area

The hut is right on the confluence of the Ada and Christopher Rivers and is set in a patch of Matagouri trees just back down the Ada River. Originally a small 2 bunker (with canvas bunks) it has been refurbished recently with a coat of paint, a small shelf/bench and four standard DOC bunks with mattresses. 

Exterior of Ada Cullers Hut in 2015

It is incredibly spartan inside with no heating, seating or water tank but there are mattresses so you could actually use it. Water is from the nearby river and would need to be boiled and or treated due to large numbers of Geese in the area. 

It would be a great day or over night base for hunters working the local area. There was no-one using the hut this time around but I could see how it might appeal to a lot of folk. I would think about staying here in the warmer months. 

Ada Culler Hut: spartan interior of the hut

Ada Cullers Hut: the door end of the hut

It is great that these old facilities still exist as they are a link to the outdoor history of New Zealand and can still provide perfectly acceptable shelter to hardy adventurers. 

Specifications:

Basic Hut: 4 bunks, water from stream, long-drop toilet

Christopher Hut: (2 nights)

It was cold and pouring with rain the whole way from Ada Pass Hut to Christopher Hut so there was no way I was adding another 4-5 hours onto my journey to walk to Anne Hut. I stayed at Christopher Hut for two nights as it was windy, wet and snowing the next day. 

Christopher Hut, St James Conservation Area

Christopher Hut was a great place to spend a couple of nights as there were only four of us in the hut and we had plenty of firewood to keep us warm. I was always planning to stay here...back in 2015 I walked all the way around to Anne Hut in one day and it just about broke me. I would suggest to anyone walking this track to stay a night at Christopher Hut and not to walk all the way to Anne Hut. . 

Christopher Hut: the cooking bench

The hut has had a spruce up inside and out thanks to the Jobs for Nature program and it has given it a nice new lease of life. They have also opened up the old warden's quarters here so there is a small three bunk side room with its own fire, bunks and cooking bench. 

Christopher Hut: the platform bunks

Interior of Christopher Hut on my recent visit

The weather on the third day of my tramp was atrocious so I just stayed put. It was snowing, wet and windy and -10 degrees outside so it was just too dangerous to contemplate walking to Anne Hut. Real hyperthermia weather...

I spent the day reading, drinking tea and chopping firewood as did the three hunters. We had a good discussion about the Army as all four of us had served at one time or another.

Rain and snow flurries in the Ada River Valley

...at least the rainwater tank got filled...

Because I stayed a second night I was overdue from my tramp and Karen did the right thing and called SAR and the Police. Luckily I walked off the track before they started looking for me but under the circumstances it was the safest course of action. 

...Christopher Hut really was a shelter from a storm...

I had a decent time at Christopher Hut as the hunters staying in the hut with me were friendly but I was ready to move onto Anne Hut the next day. 

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 16 bunks, water from tank, wood burner, wood shed, vault toilet, picnic table. Small side room with 3 bunks and own wood burner. 

Christopher Hut to Anne Hut: Day 4

On the fourth day of my trip I walked from Christopher Hut around Mt Federation and up the Henry Valley to Anne Hut.  It is roughly 12 kilometers and takes about 4-5 hours. 

Anne Hut:

Anne Hut is the newest hut on the on the St James Walkway and is a replacement for an older hut which burnt down in the early 2010's. The hut sits out in the middle of a wide open grassy plateau and is in a much better position than the old site down by the river in the shade of big hills. 

Anne Hut: St James Conservation Area

The hut was completed in 2012 so it is typical of the new breed of DOC huts with good insulation, double glazing, a veranda and plenty of internal space. Some people don't like these big new huts but they are clean, tidy (for the most part) and comfortable so I don't see what they are complaining about. 

Anne Hut: the dining area in the hut

I had a complete bunkroom to myself as the hunters were all in the other and the English chap slept out next to the fire. Just as well as I am told I sometimes snore. I wouldn't know because I'm usually asleep...

Anne Hut: one of the two bunkrooms

Anne Hut is directly on the path of the Te Araora Trail so it is often full of TA trekkers over the summer months. From here the TA walkers are either heading to Waiau Pass or along the rest of the St James Walkway to Boyle Village. It was coming to the end of the TA season when I visited so it was only myself, an English tramper and six hunters staying. 

Cooking bench inside Christopher Hut

There are three tables inside Christopher Hut

The veranda runs along the north side of the hut and makes for a nice sunny position to sit outside on a fine day. Last time I was here in 2015 I sat outside for nearly two hours getting some rays. It is a great place for drying your gear but do weigh your stuff down with rocks as it is sometimes windy here. 

View to the Libretto Range from Anne Hut

Anne Hut is lovely and is the real jewel on this circuit...this is the type and style of hut DOC would build if this track ever gets upgraded to Great Walk status. 

Hut warden's quarters attached to Christopher Hut

This was the second to last day of my tramp and in the morning I was walking the 18 kilometers to Boyle Flat Hut up the Anne River to a saddle and then down the Boyle River Valley to the hut.

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 24 bunks, water from tanks, wood burner, vault toilets, picnic table

Anne Hut to Boyle Flat Hut: Day 5

This section was covered on the fifth day of my tramp and it is by far the longest section of the St James Walkway. It takes most people 6-8 hours to walk even though the terrain is very gentle...its just a long way. 

Rokeby Hut:

Rokeby Hut is a small hut about half way down the Boyle Valley when walking from Anne Saddle to Boyle Flat Hut. It is sign posted from the track but is actually fairly well camouflaged in a patch of Beech trees next to Rokeby Stream.

DOC sign to Rokeby hut from the St James Walkway

Rokeby Hut is tucked into the Beech forest

The hut has been recently painted but it still has the original canvas bunks which are short and quite uncomfortable. It does have a nice wood burner so you can at least heat this hut up. This is the same type of woodburner in the warden's quarters at Christopher Hut and has a small oven on the right hand side. 

Bit of damper bread anyone...?

Interior of Rokeby Hut on the St James Walkway

Rokeby Hut gets a bit of use from the TA trekkers but the far more comfortable Boyle Flat Hut is only 1.5 hours down the valley so that is where most people stay. Still perfectly usable as a hut provided you are less than 5'10" and don't mind a sore back in the morning. 

Rear of Rokeby Hut, St James Conservation Area

This hut was built the same time as Ada Cullers Hut and Anne Cullers Hut in the heyday of the deer culling era in the late 1950's. Another spartan hut but the fact is is still here and able to be used speaks to the soundness of this design. 

Front view of Rokeby Hut on the St James Walkway

...canvas bunks inside Rokeby Hut....

Make sure you go have a look if you ever happen to be passing by this point...stay if you like the rustic type huts.

Specifications:

Basic Hut/Bivy: 2 bunks,  water from stream, open fireplace, long-drop toilet

Boyle Flat Hut :

Boyle Flats Hut is the last on the main route of the St James Walkway and will be the last nights accommodation for the majority of people walking the track. It is located in the mid reaches of the Boyle River Valley about 4 hours from the end of the walkway. 

Boyle Flat Hut, St James Conservation Area

This hut was purpose built (like Christopher/Ada Pass/Cannibal Gorge) for the St James Walkway. They used a variety of hut designs to make the Walkway more interesting and this hut has a number of special features. 

Boyle Flat Hut: view of the interior

My pit set up in Boyle Flat Hut

One of the cool features of this hut is the padded bench seat along the window. I wish they would do this in more backcountry huts because those wooden benches are murderous on your rear. There is a very nice view out to the river flats opposite the hut from that bench. 

Awesome padded bench seat at Boyle Flat Hut

More interior detail of Boyle Flat Hut

Another unique feature of Boyle Flat Hut is the large carved map of the St James Walkway on one of the walls. It has excellent detail of the various catchments which make up the track and gives you some perspective on your trek. 

Map of St James Walkway in Boyle Flat Hut

This hut is either a Lockwood or Fraemoh's design but it is difficult to decide which company made it. Both companies made kitset wooden houses that could be largely built by people with a modicum of skill. You basically slotted them together on the site which made them ideal as backcountry huts. They are my favorite type of hut and I just love the deep honey color of the wood with its multitude layers of varnish. 

The second bunkroom at Boyle Flat Hut...love that wood!!!

Last view of Boyle Flat Hut as I was leaving

As I said previously Boyle Flat Hut is the last hut directly on the route of the St James Walkway. There is one other hut just off the Walkway which I will discuss. This is Magdalen Hut. 

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 16 bunks, water from tanks, wood burner, long drop toilets, picnic tables

Boyle Flat Hut to Boyle Village: Day 6: Final Day: 

Magdalen Hut:

I have been to Magdalen Hut a number of times and it is one of my most visited huts anywhere in New Zealand. It is not directly on the route of the St James Walkway but many trampers either visit the hut or stay there as an alternate to Boyle Flat Hut. 

Magdalen Hut, Lake Sumner Forest Park

From the mid Boyle River swing bridge it takes about 30 odd minutes to walk down to Magdalen Hut. It is clearly marked at the bridge and the track sidles the side of the hills as it makes its way down the Boyle River to the Hut. 

On the side track to Magdalen Hut

Magdalen Hut is also quite new being constructed in the early 2010's after the old hut became unserviceable. It is a great wee 6 bunker and the pattern used here has been replicated in a number of places right across the Motu. 

The interior of Magdalen Hut on a nice sunny day

Wood burner and table inside Magdalen Hut

I last stayed here back in 2021 but I am planning a return trip as part of my Winter 2023 series of tramps. I'm hoping to get up to the hut before the first big snow dump of the year possibly later this month. Of the six times I have stayed here in the last decade I have had the hut to myself on four occasions. 

Relaxing inside Magdalen Hut back in 2019

FYI: in winter and the shoulder seasons it can get bloody cold here so make sure you have a good sleeping bag in case the firewood shed is empty. Also draw water from the tank before dark as it often freezes on a frosty night and you will find yourself without cooking/drinking water. 

A frosty morning at Magdalen Hut, Lake Sumner Forest Park

The best time to visit Magdalen Hut is outside of summer as it gets busy as hell due to Te Araroa Trail walkers in the warmer months. I would come mid week to try to get the hut to yourself and if it is full it is just over an hour to walk to the larger Boyle Flat Hut. 

Specifications:

Serviced Hut: 6 bunks, water from tanks, wood burner, flush toilets, wood shed

So there you go all the huts and shelters you are likely to encounter along the St James Walkway. There are some real beauties on this track and DOC has provided a variety of huts and shelters for you to stay at while you are walking.