MT CurTis Hut
Maintenance Status:
Mt Curtis Hut is a community built and maintained hut that is open to the public on a donation-for-use basis. It was built with Department of Conservation consent in 2012 to replace a derelict hunter’s hut built in the early 1970s. The new hut's construction was initiated and mostly funded by locals Hamish Roundhill and Warren Inwood. Additional donations and practical help were provided by the local community, although Warren did most of the building, which is to modern standards but with character and a personal touch. The usual access is from SH6 near Inangahua via a community-maintained track that starts 1.5kms up Dee Creek.
Location:
Northern Brunner Range 1.4km west of Mt Curtis. NZ Topomap: BS22, Shenandoah. Grid Ref: NZTM E1520858/ N5360985. Altitude 1185m. Mt Curtis Hut is located near the northern end of the Brunner Range, tucked away at the bushline, on the spur separating the Rough and Dee Creek catchments. The hut can be accessed in a half day from SH6 and provides easy access to the tops. It is readily visible from above and there are good views from the tops just above it. The hut is very sheltered and gets all-day sun in the summer. Historically the Hut only got around a dozen recorded parties a year, mostly chamois, deer, or pig hunters, but in recent times with increased social media profiling, it has started getting more interest from the general tramping community.
Access:
Access to Mt Curtis Hut is up Dee Creek from the bridge on SH6. The Creek passes through private land initially, however there is an unformed legal road running roughly up, but not always corresponding with, the actual creekbed (Walking Access NZ's Pocket Maps app can help keep you in the public access areas). The track up from Dee Creek is not currently marked on NZ Topomaps. It was recut when the Hut was rebuilt, is fairly well marked with flagging tape, and there is a reasonable ground trail in most places. It starts in Dee Creek about 100m above the first side-stream (1515002E 5364812N) where a fallen tree allows for a dry crossing. Once across look for markers heading up onto the terrace where it connects with an old tram line at 1515004E/ 5364738N. The route follows the terrace parallel to the creek for around three kms, climbing slowly initially, then more steeply once the spur is reached. There is quite a lot of fresh windthrow on the terrace section. The last water is at a small creek about one km from the start. The section up the spur from around 300m is marked with orange triangles and rises in a series of steeps with steep bits in between. Allow around five hours at a steady pace to reach the Hut and four for the return trip down.
The Brunner Range provides easy, open travel from the hut in both directions and navigation is straightforward in good conditions. A band of scattered alpine scrub between the Hut and the open tops has a roughly cut trail through it.
Type:
Mt Curtis Hut is a non-standard design and has been built with a friendly feel about it. It has four bunks, five mattresses, a large woodburner (which rapidly heats the hut to a sauna), and a covered entranceway. Outside there is a woodshed, a kitchen bench and sink, and lots of hooks and washing lines. There is a roof-fed water tank, and a toilet.
Condition:
Warren, Hamish and friends painted the Hut and toilet, cleared the undergrowth around the site, and did a general tidy-up in February 2025. The Hut is currently in excellent condition, and the sunny aspect keeps the interior nicely dry. Donations for its use can be made at 38-9012-065348-00.
Routes:
The Brunner Range north of Mt Curtis is easily traversed including the section where the ridgeline dips into the bush. There is an old hut built by NZ Electricity just NE of Boundary Peak which is damp and rodent infested. It has two bunks and a wood burner and could be tidied up and restored to a more welcoming state with a bit of work. An old mustering track cut in the 1960s down the NW spur over Points 770 and 704m to the Iron Bridge on the highway may have some flagging tape on it but is not actively maintained.
There is an untracked route down Boundary Peak's SW spur into Ram Creek through fairly open beech forest. Ram Creek itself is relatively easy travel.
The Brunner Range south of Mt Curtis is very easy travel with the odd scramble around granite outcrops all the way to Bourkes Rock. There are scattered tarns along the way that provide lovely camp sites. The bush is pretty open from Bourkes Rock down into the Larry River however travel down the river is a bit rough. There was also an old mustering track down the spur between Landing and Dunphy Creek that Hamish Roundhill has done a bit of cutting and flagging on. The top end of the route is hard to locate, and it ends up on Hamish's farm. He is happy to provide access and directions for trampers and hunters if they ring him in advance (021 471 201).
Larry Saddle and Wheel Creek Hut can be accessed via the northern Victoria Range. The ridgeline allows for fairly easy travel with small traverses a little scrambling required to get around some of the peaks. It is dotted with tarns all the way and so water is not an issue. Mt Ralph with its sheer northern and western faces can be easily traversed on its eastern shoulder. Approaching from the south can be best done via the small catchment draining the southern side of the peak. As a rough rule of thumb allow around four hours from Mt Wynn to Mt Pelion, 2-3 hours from there to Mt Victoria, and 3-4 hours from Mt Victoria to Larry Saddle. A light track goes down the TL rib of the side-creek that runs under the Saddle and from here it should be straightforward travel down Wheel Creek to the hut.
Mt Curtis Hut is a community built and maintained hut that is open to the public on a donation-for-use basis. It was built with Department of Conservation consent in 2012 to replace a derelict hunter’s hut built in the early 1970s. The new hut's construction was initiated and mostly funded by locals Hamish Roundhill and Warren Inwood. Additional donations and practical help were provided by the local community, although Warren did most of the building, which is to modern standards but with character and a personal touch. The usual access is from SH6 near Inangahua via a community-maintained track that starts 1.5kms up Dee Creek.
Location:
Northern Brunner Range 1.4km west of Mt Curtis. NZ Topomap: BS22, Shenandoah. Grid Ref: NZTM E1520858/ N5360985. Altitude 1185m. Mt Curtis Hut is located near the northern end of the Brunner Range, tucked away at the bushline, on the spur separating the Rough and Dee Creek catchments. The hut can be accessed in a half day from SH6 and provides easy access to the tops. It is readily visible from above and there are good views from the tops just above it. The hut is very sheltered and gets all-day sun in the summer. Historically the Hut only got around a dozen recorded parties a year, mostly chamois, deer, or pig hunters, but in recent times with increased social media profiling, it has started getting more interest from the general tramping community.
Access:
Access to Mt Curtis Hut is up Dee Creek from the bridge on SH6. The Creek passes through private land initially, however there is an unformed legal road running roughly up, but not always corresponding with, the actual creekbed (Walking Access NZ's Pocket Maps app can help keep you in the public access areas). The track up from Dee Creek is not currently marked on NZ Topomaps. It was recut when the Hut was rebuilt, is fairly well marked with flagging tape, and there is a reasonable ground trail in most places. It starts in Dee Creek about 100m above the first side-stream (1515002E 5364812N) where a fallen tree allows for a dry crossing. Once across look for markers heading up onto the terrace where it connects with an old tram line at 1515004E/ 5364738N. The route follows the terrace parallel to the creek for around three kms, climbing slowly initially, then more steeply once the spur is reached. There is quite a lot of fresh windthrow on the terrace section. The last water is at a small creek about one km from the start. The section up the spur from around 300m is marked with orange triangles and rises in a series of steeps with steep bits in between. Allow around five hours at a steady pace to reach the Hut and four for the return trip down.
The Brunner Range provides easy, open travel from the hut in both directions and navigation is straightforward in good conditions. A band of scattered alpine scrub between the Hut and the open tops has a roughly cut trail through it.
Type:
Mt Curtis Hut is a non-standard design and has been built with a friendly feel about it. It has four bunks, five mattresses, a large woodburner (which rapidly heats the hut to a sauna), and a covered entranceway. Outside there is a woodshed, a kitchen bench and sink, and lots of hooks and washing lines. There is a roof-fed water tank, and a toilet.
Condition:
Warren, Hamish and friends painted the Hut and toilet, cleared the undergrowth around the site, and did a general tidy-up in February 2025. The Hut is currently in excellent condition, and the sunny aspect keeps the interior nicely dry. Donations for its use can be made at 38-9012-065348-00.
Routes:
The Brunner Range north of Mt Curtis is easily traversed including the section where the ridgeline dips into the bush. There is an old hut built by NZ Electricity just NE of Boundary Peak which is damp and rodent infested. It has two bunks and a wood burner and could be tidied up and restored to a more welcoming state with a bit of work. An old mustering track cut in the 1960s down the NW spur over Points 770 and 704m to the Iron Bridge on the highway may have some flagging tape on it but is not actively maintained.
There is an untracked route down Boundary Peak's SW spur into Ram Creek through fairly open beech forest. Ram Creek itself is relatively easy travel.
The Brunner Range south of Mt Curtis is very easy travel with the odd scramble around granite outcrops all the way to Bourkes Rock. There are scattered tarns along the way that provide lovely camp sites. The bush is pretty open from Bourkes Rock down into the Larry River however travel down the river is a bit rough. There was also an old mustering track down the spur between Landing and Dunphy Creek that Hamish Roundhill has done a bit of cutting and flagging on. The top end of the route is hard to locate, and it ends up on Hamish's farm. He is happy to provide access and directions for trampers and hunters if they ring him in advance (021 471 201).
Larry Saddle and Wheel Creek Hut can be accessed via the northern Victoria Range. The ridgeline allows for fairly easy travel with small traverses a little scrambling required to get around some of the peaks. It is dotted with tarns all the way and so water is not an issue. Mt Ralph with its sheer northern and western faces can be easily traversed on its eastern shoulder. Approaching from the south can be best done via the small catchment draining the southern side of the peak. As a rough rule of thumb allow around four hours from Mt Wynn to Mt Pelion, 2-3 hours from there to Mt Victoria, and 3-4 hours from Mt Victoria to Larry Saddle. A light track goes down the TL rib of the side-creek that runs under the Saddle and from here it should be straightforward travel down Wheel Creek to the hut.
Looking North along Northern Victoria Range - Photo Tom Hanchett.
The ridge between the Montgomerie and Silcock Creek catchments SW of Larry Saddle is reasonably good travel most of the way to Kirwans Hill. It is seldom travelled and probably only gets traversed every couple of years. Some of the patches where the ridge dips into the bush are a bit scrubby, the worst of these being the traverse under Point 1311m on the Montgomerie side. The other bush sections aren't too bad with quite a few patches of relatively open beech forest. The only water sources on the route are some small tarns at a picturesque campsite a few hundred meters SE of Point 1263m and large tarn at the eastern end of the Kirwans Hill tops. The route is marked from south of Point 1315m to Kirwans Hut. One should allow 6-8 hours for the traverse from Larry Saddle to Kirwans Hill.
The Victoria Range south of Larry Saddle is fairly easy travel initially but becomes increasingly demanding the closer you get to Ivess Peak. There are no recordings of anyone making the full traverse from Larry Saddle to Lake Stream Hut in any of the current hut books. Some imposing rock buttresses on the south ridge of Ivess Peak would make a traverse of it a technical job requiring proper climbing skills and gear. The only options around this bit would be to drop into the heads of either Woolly or Shaw Creek. The latter would provide the opportunity for a stayover at the very picturesque Top Waitahu Biv.
Repairs needed:
Nil currently. The track needs some maintenance work, mostly on windthrow, and would benefit from being marked with permanent markers of some kind. A bit of regen pruning is needed tin places. Some formalised access through the belt of private land would be of benefit to all.
Provisions on site:
A range of pots and pans, a kettle, a broom, a dustpan and brush, two axes, two bow saws, two sawhorses, three shovels, a grubber, a crowbar, a hammer, sealant gun, paint trays, assorted nails and fittings. Under the Hut there is an aluminium ladder, odds and sods of timber and bits of plastic spouting.
The Victoria Range south of Larry Saddle is fairly easy travel initially but becomes increasingly demanding the closer you get to Ivess Peak. There are no recordings of anyone making the full traverse from Larry Saddle to Lake Stream Hut in any of the current hut books. Some imposing rock buttresses on the south ridge of Ivess Peak would make a traverse of it a technical job requiring proper climbing skills and gear. The only options around this bit would be to drop into the heads of either Woolly or Shaw Creek. The latter would provide the opportunity for a stayover at the very picturesque Top Waitahu Biv.
Repairs needed:
Nil currently. The track needs some maintenance work, mostly on windthrow, and would benefit from being marked with permanent markers of some kind. A bit of regen pruning is needed tin places. Some formalised access through the belt of private land would be of benefit to all.
Provisions on site:
A range of pots and pans, a kettle, a broom, a dustpan and brush, two axes, two bow saws, two sawhorses, three shovels, a grubber, a crowbar, a hammer, sealant gun, paint trays, assorted nails and fittings. Under the Hut there is an aluminium ladder, odds and sods of timber and bits of plastic spouting.