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Club Huts and Ruapehu Mountain Lodge
Throughout its history the Tararua Tramping Club has built and maintained many huts, most of them in the Tararua Range. By the 1970s up to eleven huts were being maintained by the club. Today we maintain four tramping huts and our Ruapehu mountain lodge.
Tramping huts
Waerenga is a locked hut in the Remutaka Forest Park.
Cone , Field and Kime are "open" huts and all lie within the Tararua Forest Park.
Hut fees for Field, Kime and Cone are $5/night (children 5 to 15 are half price), or are covered by DOC's Annual Hut Pass.
Cone Hut
Cone Hut, (5 mattresses)[1] is a slab hut, built in 1945, and opened in the Upper Tauwharenīkau River Valley, near the river, at the bottom of the track down from Cone Saddle.
Cone is an open hut, and part of the DoC Back Country Huts system. Cone Hut has a historic designation. The hut was built using the rare technique of adzing Totara timber into framing and splitting it into slab walls.
The hut was restored in the 1980s and is the second oldest hut in the Tararua Ranges, and one of the best examples of an original slab hut in the country.
In 2015, following vandalism, the hut was again restored, and Totara slabs from the demolition of HVTC's Baines Hut in Ōrongorongo were used for the woodshed. The hut was given a tanalised plywood floor, replacing the dirt floor, plywood was overlaid on the Totara slab sleeping platform, and a water tank was installed. From the TTC's annual Tararua 2015 .
- Department of Conservation information on Cone Hut history, facilities, and restoration after the vandalism.
- See also Tararua Footprints
Kime Hut
Work began on a replacement for Old Kime Hut, on a site just to the south. In 2014 Kime III was completed and signed off, after the hut failed a council "code compliance" because the window flashings did not follow the specifications. Having no stove, it is still somewhat cold and damp. Nevertheless it's layout, window configuration, insulation, and greater size make it a great improvement over Old Kime Hut.
 Kime III, April 2014 |
Esmond James Kime is buried at Karori Cemetery.
See Papers Past:
- LOST ON THE RANGES. OTAKI MAIL, 14 JUNE 1922
- STILL MISSING. EVENING POST, VOLUME CIII, ISSUE 139, 15 JUNE 1922
- LOST ON THE RANGES. OTAKI MAIL, 16 JUNE 1922
- SHELTERING UNDER ROCK. EVENING POST, VOLUME CIII, ISSUE 140, 16 JUNE 1922
- Papers Past TRAGIC ENDING. EVENING POST, VOLUME CIII, ISSUE 141, 17 JUNE 1922
Field Hut
 Field Hut in its new colours |
Field Hut, (20 bunks), was comissioned and built 1924 by woodsman Joe Gibbs for the Tararua Tramping Club. It was the first hut the club built, followed later by Kime Hut, Tauwharenīkau Hut, and Cone Hut. It is a club owned public hut in the Tararua Forest Park, located near the bush edge, on the Southern Crossing track, above Ōtaki Forks.
Field Hut has a historic designation, and has the distinction of being the oldest tramping hut in the Tararua Forest Park, and the oldest remaining hut specifically built for tramping. There is a display of historic photos of the hut in the hut.
In 2004 the Field Hut 80th was celebrated. In 2024 the Centenary is to be celebrated.
- Department of Conservation information on Field Hut
Waerenga Hut
 Relaxing outside Waerenga Hut in the Ōrongorongo River valley |
Waerenga Hut, is the club's hut on the eastern side of the Ōrongorongo River in the Remutaka Forest Park. The club has had a hut near this site since 1931. The current hut was built in 1961 and moved to its current site in 2009, after it was undermined in the massive floods of 31 March 2005.
The hut is well placed for the many walks and tramps available in the Remutaka Forest Park, including the climb of Mt Matthews, and trips to other peaks, the South Coast, Wainuiomata, and the Wairarapa. Or just as a place to relax away from it all.
Waerenga Hut is a little better equipped than your average DOC hut. You will find:
- Bunk space for 15, with additional mattresses as well
- Kitchen with sink with drinkable water
- Plates and cutlery
- Pots and pans
- Coffee plunger and teapot
- Books and games
- A 5 candle candelabrum
- Some pillows and cushions
- Wood burner and a well filled wood shed; axe and bush saw
- Brooms for cleanup
Please bring your own cooker and fuel.
Please ensure that all cookers are correctly set up and stable before using them.
The hut is locked, and is available to members free of charge. At times it is available to responsible school groups and similar for a fee. Potential non member users must be known to a club member. Non member fees are $10 per adult per night, and $5 per child over 5 per night.
Contact the booking office Eva Durrant -> mailto:ttc [period] waerenga [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query from TTC website on 027 311 8700 for details.
Waerenga appears to mean "clearing", an appropriate name for a hut.
Tararua Lodge, Ruapehu
Tararua Tramping Club Lodge is our unique alpine lodge situated on the northern slopes of Mt. Ruapehu, GPS co-ordinates: 1820807.14, 5653092.69, at an altitude of 1764m. Tararua Lodge_Trail_Map_Whakapapa in the Whakapapa Alpine Area providing both summer and winter facilities. It is within the Tongariro National Park and World Heritage area. Tararua Lodge is available year round for members and their guests. At least one of the party must be a TTC member
It is essential you make a booking before visiting the lodge.
To book a lodge stay during the summer of 2024/2025 please contact Tararua Lodge Committee -> mailto:ttc [period] tararua [period] lodge [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query from TTC website Vivienne Radcliffe on 021 948 634 or Vince Jennings on 027 437 8958 For booking during the winter please visit our Lodge trip page.
Tararua Lodge is the base for many of our winter activities.
Trips to the lodge
If you are going to visit the lodge, please see our visiting Tararua Lodge page.
If you are leading a trip to the lodge, please see our trip leader's page.
Love our Huts
Our huts are a special part of our club heritage, and our club activities. Please report any hut damage, or other relevant information, to TTC's Huts Convenor Lana Cleverley -> mailto:ttc [period] huts [period] convenor [snail] ttc [period] org [period] nz?Subject=Query from TTC website on 022 006 4715.