Child friendly rating: 5 stars

Distance: 4.2km

Signposted time: 2 hours

Bookings Required? Yes

Suitable in Winter? Usually

Camping Available? Yes, limited bookable paid camp spots

4wd required? No

Parking:

Park at the White Horse Hill Campground carpark.

The Track:

The first section of the track follows the famous Hooker Valley Track. This section is wide, relatively flat, though with a few steps.

Once you reach the toilets halfway along the Hooker Valley Track, you'll need to turn off the main track. This isn't well signposted, but there is a marker pointing you off the track, and this side track has gotten more and more clear and exposed over time as the hut gets more visitors.

You start off following the creek upstream, till you get to a point where you have gotten around the little hill the hut it hidden behind. Then it's back down towards the hut.

This second section of the track might take you half the time even though it's only a few hundred metres of track as its much rougher, can get muddy, and does require pushing past tussock. When weighted down with snow, or when wet, the tussock can be hard to push past, and not appreciated by small children who are the height of the tussock.

With a bunch of small children walking the whole way, it took us 2 hours 20 minutes to get to the hut on one occasion. Other occasions have also been around the 2-2.5 hour mark, so the signposted time is quite accurate for children walking. A fit adult could walk it in under an hour even with a pack on.

Hut:

The hut is historic, however it was beautifully done up in 2020 when it was relocated to its current site due to the receding Hooker Glacier creating an unstable site at the previous location.

The hut is well insulated, and even with the little fire can get very hot even in winter.

There is plenty of space around for the kids to run and play, and the views of Aoraki are just spectacular. This is a beautiful location to be in during a snow dump.

Recommendations:

This is a great hike, and kids 3+ should be able to walk the whole way, but you may find you'll have to carry them through the tussock if they don't want to be touching it. A great spot both summer and winter, but you'll find it books out very fast for this reason. It's worth it taking the annual leave to go mid-week as the bookings are slightly easier to come by then.