Child friendly rating: 0.5 stars

Distance: 4km

Signposted time: 3 hours

Bookings Required? No

Suitable in Winter? No

Camping Available? Yes plenty

4wd required? No

Parking: The only slightly child-friendly access to this hut is via boat. Either BYO (Or a friends) boat, or catch the water taxi from the head of Lake Rotoroa. Another option is to kayak across.

The Track: There is technically a track all the way from the carpark, however this is considered impassable.

The easiest access is by walking from the Mt Misery Jetty. From here it is 4km to the hut. You can also come from the Sabine or D'urville jetties, however via D'urville there is a river crossing, and via Sabine there is a dodgy section of track with a big drop off. Both tracks add at least an hour walking time too.

The first section of the track past the Mt Misery Jetty is not too bad. The track starts to slowly climb. The shrubbery is semi starting to overgrow in places, but it is very obvious where the track is. Just be prepared for the shrubbery to be touching you if you or your kids are sensitive to this.

From around 600m above sea level, the rate of climb starts to increase significantly. The track is very steep and relentless.

Between around 700 - 800m asl the track is poorly marked and pretty overgrown. You'll have to walk this section slowly keeping a close eye out for track markers. It's very easy to loose the track.

The climb is relentless. There is finally a few spots of some give come 1200-1300m asl. It is also hard to find anywhere to sit down and have a break with a toddler.

Once you pass the lookout, you are almost out of the bushline. Once out of the bushline, the track is still pretty steep, but you can see the highest point of the track. There is still a bit of pushing past shrubbery required as the track follows the overgrowing bush edge.

Once almost at the high point, you can see the hut!!

And the view is amazing and while the climb till this point may have been misery, the views are fantastic and more than make up for it.

From the highest point, it's a gentle 1km downhill stroll to the hut. The track does have a big drop off at points along here as you follow the ridgeline, so watch small children.

With an 8yo, 4yo walking majority of the track, and a 1yo baby being carried on my front, it took us 7hrs incl breaks uphill. Back down took 4.5 hours.

Hut: The hut is a very cute one. Advertised online as 4-bunk, there is actually only a sleeping platform for 3. There is a 4th mattress, but this would have to go on the floor as there is no space on the sleeping platform. (And you'd have your toes under the benchtop)

If you have the energy, would recommend the side trip to the summit of Mt Misery itself.

Recommendations: This hike is not to be underestimated.

Older fit and active kids 8-10 years plus may enjoy this walk (Don't load them up with heavy packs) as it's a short and sweet scramble, not a boring long walk. But I would not recommend for younger ages.

It's not the worst track to have a baby on your front as underfoot the track is not too bad, and most of the overgrown sections are below adult hip height so it's not a bush bash. This means if you've got an only baby, it's not a bad track to tackle if you've got the fitness to lug the weight up the hill.

Kids over 10 may enjoy this as a day trip from Sabine or D'Urville. You'll be much faster uphill without packs. However again the kids need to be fit, capable, and strong.