Child friendly rating: 2 stars (Or 1 star without the forestry key)

Distance: 7km or 11km or 12.5km

Signposted time: 3 hours or 5.5 hours

Bookings Required? No

Suitable in Winter? Not really

Camping Available? Only if you camp on the platform.

4wd required? No

Parking:

The easiest way to do this hut is to get the forestry key from the Otago Tramping Club, and then drive to the start of the short track in to Phillip J Cox Hut. (Either Tunnels Track, or the Unnamed Track) Use this map as a helpful guide:

https://otmc.co.nz/files/silverpeaks/silver_peaks_river_track_v1.pdf

Otherwise you'll need to park at the carpark at the start of the Possum Hut Route, or near the locked gate as far as you can go without the key on Steep Hill Road.

The Track:

Coming from the shortest option (Unnamed Track or Tunnels Track with the forestry key) you drop down to the Waikouaiti River. It is a steep track down, and can be very slippery after rain. Though it's best not to do this track after rain anyway, as the Waikouaiti River needs to be crossed and this cannot be done after heavy rain.

After crossing the Waikouaiti River, it's then a steep climb up to Phillip J Cox Memorial Hut. With 3 kids aged a few months - 8 years old, it took us 2 hours to get to the hut via Unnamed Track. However the river was running high when we visited, and it took us half an hour just to cross the river safely. Our 3 year old also walked almost the whole way to Phillip J Cox Hut.

After Phillip J Cox Hut, the track keeps heading uphill at a steep gradient out of the bush.

Once out of the bushline, the gradient eases off, and you follow a track wide enough to hold a childs hand the whole way. While your elevation above sea level is only around 500-600 metres, it feels like a lot more due to the proximity to the ocean. This means that it can get very cold and exposed, feeling more like 1000m above sea level.

After you reach the junction to 'The Gap', the track sidles around the hill, and then you begin dropping down to the cave.

The cave is marked on the wrong location on topo maps, so simply follow the signage.

The 30 metre track to the cave from the main track is quite rough, steep, and thin, as well as muddy after rain.

With our 3 year old walking the whole way, it took us a total of 6 hours to get to the cave.

Other options to get here include following the forestry road on foot, following the river track to Philip J Cox Hut, or coming in via Jubilee Hut.

Walking out via Jubilee Hut took us a total of 8 hours 30 minutes including a long break at Jubilee Hut on the way.

Hut:

The hut isn't really a hut, it's a platform inside a cave. This is quite an epic experience for kids!

It does mean it can get quite cold, as there aren't exactly any walls.

We have stayed here in summer and it's been warm enough, but we have also stayed here on a very cold shoulder season night when we put a small 2 person tent up inside the cave on the platform to stay warm with the kids.

There is cellphone reception just before the last drop down to the hut, but none in the cave itself.

Recommendations:

This is an epic experience to sleep in a cave. However the track is long, especially without the forestry access key. I'd recommend this as a fine-weather tramp for experienced kids, and ideally with the forestry key.