Child friendly rating: 5 stars

Distance: 9.1km

Signposted time: 3 hours

Bookings Required? Yes

Suitable in Winter? Yes

Camping Available? Yes

4wd required? No

Parking:

Park at the edge of Lake Rotoiti on the Kerr Bay side to walk.

If you are planning on paddling or catching the water taxi, you can also park near the jetty.

The Track:

This is a lovely walk that follows around the lake. This makes it pretty flat the whole way, plus there's heaps of places to have a break at the lakes edge along the way.

The track is wide enough to hold hands with a walking toddler, and the track is good enough that a toddler can easily walk sections.

Only disadvantage is the distance can be far for little legs, so you'd have to expect to carry kids under 3.5 for at least sections.

Walking this without kids we've done it in 2.5 hours. With kiddos it's varied, but generally around 4.5 hours.

We have also packrafted the track. With me only paddling a section of the time, and bulk of the paddling done by hubby, it took us 2 hours 2 minutes there, including a couple pee breaks for the kids, and similar back, despite no breaks on the way back. This was with a 7yo, a 3yo, and a 9 week baby on board.

The kids were definitely fans of the packraft option, as they didn't have to walk, and mum and dad were fans of the packraft option as we didn't have to carry heavy packs or heavy kids. Plus it was faster! Even though the paddling did feel like it was taking forever at some points.

If paddling, wind gust should be under 30km/hr to keep the lake flat. This is a great spot to paddle, as there is beach space to stop and have a break almost anywhere when the kids suddenly need a break. Follow around the Eastern shore of the lake to make it easy to have a break anytime.

You do need to walk the last 5 minutes to the hut from the Lakehead Jetty, so if paddling, you may prefer to stay at Coldwater Hut instead as that hut is more on the waters edge, so easier to carry your gear.

Hut:

The hut is new with platform bunks. Lots of running around grass outside too.

Recommendations:

This is an easy hut, with a flat walk. Take your togs if its summertime. While it can be a great first hut, the distance is a lot for little legs. If you've got a packraft, would recommend trying this option here as this is the perfect hut for it!