Child friendly rating: 5 stars

Distance: 5km

Signposted time: 3 hours

Bookings Required? Yes

Suitable in Winter? Sometimes

Camping Available? Yes plenty

4wd required? No

Parking:

 Park at the carpark at the end of Jig Road.

The Track:

 This is a classic first time overnight hike for Canterbury kids.

The signposted time is quite generous, but you may still take longer. Without kids, this track normally takes us just over an hour. With young kids walking, it's normally between 4 hours - 4 hours 45 minutes. (As a comparison, most tracks that are signposted as 3 hours take me and the kids solo 5.5 hours to walk)

The track is undulating, and there is more uphill than you'd expect, but there is plenty of old mining relics to keep things fun.

Once you're about 1.5km short of the hut, there is a gate you go through. Here, if you'd like to take the easy way to the hut, turn left, and link on to the 4WD road instead. Follow this road to the hut instead of the main track. It does have enough markers to be able to follow it, and is a much easier track to follow. This is the track I'd recommend with young kids (Under 5's) or if visiting the hut in snow.

The other track is narrower, and not as easy as a 4WD road, plus it has a few drop-offs.

Hut:

 Once at the hut, there is a huge amount and variety to explore. You can easily stay at this hut 2 nights and not get bored.

Check out the pools, the side walks, the creek, and the old mining relics.

Recommendations:

 This is a great first time hike as there is so much to see and do in the area. It's not too uphill (Though more uphill than you expect) And kids of all ages can walk sections, with kids 3+ generally able to walk the whole way.