Hiking the Tablelands in Kahurangi National Park

Hiking the tablelands is a great way to experience the wilderness of Kahurangi National Park. With rocky peaks, the open grassy ‘tablelands’ this area is named for, and forested riverside tracks, the view is always changing.

And then there are the quirky huts scattered all across this area of Kahurangi National Park. Hiking the tablelands is also an excellent choice if you’ve missed booking the Heaphy Track or if you’re looking for an alternative.

Asbestos Cottage with a roaring fire under the night stars in Kahurangi National Park

Easily accessed from Nelson, the tablelands area of Kahurangi National Park has lots of tracks to choose from, with many different loop hikes possible. We did a five-night circuit from Flora car park, the main entry point for the tablelands.

Getting to the Tablelands Hike in Kahurangi National Park

The Flora car park is the best starting point for a hike in the tablelands in Kahurangi National Park. It’s a long, steep, one-lane track to reach the car park, but it’s usually accessible for all vehicles in summer. Still, we’d recommend checking the DOC website before you travel for any slips or wash-outs on the track.

Hiking the Tablelands Day One: Flora Car Park to Flora Hut

Flora Hut is a short 30-minute walk from the car park. The route follows a vehicle track through the forest and is mostly downhill. This is perfect if, like us, you’re setting off late (after dark in our case).

Flora Hut, one of Kahurangi National Park's oldest huts

Flora Hut was built in 1927 and is full of rustic charm. It has two 6-bed bunkrooms separated by the wood store. Originally this layout was to provide men and women with separate sleeping quarters. Now it means you’ll often have one wing all to yourselves.

Each bunk room has an open fire, and there’s the usual long-drop loo outside. Unfortunately, the outdoor tap wasn’t working when we visited, but it was only a short walk to the nearby stream. Flora Hut is in a peaceful clearing, surrounded by beech forest and just up from the stream of the same name. There are some friendly local weka around the hut, and the outdoor picnic benches are a great place to bask when the sun is shining.

Hiking the Tablelands day two: Flora Hut to Mount Arthur Hut

Heading straight up the hill behind Flora Hut, this track continues through beech forest until close to Mount Arthur Hut, where the path passes above the trees. The route is relatively short but steep and will get you to Mount Arthur Hut with plenty of spare time; it took us one hour and 30 minutes.

Use the afternoon to climb Mount Arthur, or kick off your boots and relax on the verandah.

Mount Arthur Hut, one of the most popular huts in the tablelands

Mount Arthur Hut is a cosy little hut with room for eight people on two sleeping platforms. With its proximity to Mount Arthur and the Flora Carpark, this is a busy hut which is often full.

Path to Mount Arthur from Mount Arthur Hut

Nestled just below the tree line, the hut is sheltered and has a sunny verandah. There is also a grassy patch in front with a picnic bench, a great place to relax for an afternoon if you don’t feel like slogging it up Mount Arthur.

The hut has a wood burner, an outdoor sink and a long drop loo. It’s only a two-minute walk to get above the treeline for a spectacular sunrise view – honestly, it’s worth it.

Hiking the Tablelands day two: Side-trip up Mount Arthur

This is a fantastic side trip if the weather is fine. We made lunch at the hut before setting off in the afternoon for the summit of Mount Arthur.

In contrast to the gentle rolling tablelands to come, or the forested valleys of the morning, Mount Arthur stands out with its exposed marble and flanks peppered with sinkholes.

It’s an undulating climb all the way to the summit, with some steep rocky sections, and it took us one hour and 30 minutes to reach the top. From there, the route for the coming days was visible far below, and mountains stretched in all directions.

View from the top of Mount Arthur

As we made our way down, the sun cast a glorious pattern of shadows across the stippled landscape of Mount Arthur’s sinkholes and rock formations, with the foothills illuminated in the orangey glow. The round-trip took us just over four hours, with plenty of time on the summit to soak in the view. It’s chilly up there, but there’s a small stone wall to shelter behind.

Hiking the Tablelands day three: Mount Arthur Hut to Salisbury Lodge

This is a much longer day’s hike than the preceding two, and it’s all about the views, as the first half of the day follows an exposed ridgeline above the trees. The day starts along the same route as climbing Mount Arthur before turning right into a valley and then onto the ridge leading to Gordon’s Pyramid. The track is well-marked and has some steep sections, including a short scramble of a descent.

Take your time to Gordon’s if the weather is fine, as the views are to die for. Getting from the hut to Gordon’s Pyramid took roughly two hours and forty-five minutes. From here, it’s a steep descent through tussock and forest to the tablelands before a gentle ascent to Salisbury Lodge, about an hour from the top of Gordon’s Pyramid.

Hiking in the Tablelands just before Salisbury Lodge

Salisbury Lodge, a hut with a view in Kahurangi National Park

We just dropped into Salisbury Lodge for lunch. Still, with a sunny kitchen and fantastic views, we were very tempted to stay for the night.

Salisbury Lodge has a large kitchen area with a wood burner, outdoor sinks, and a 22-person bunkroom up some steps from the kitchen. Unfortunately, the bunkroom is a dingy affair, lit by skylights. Redeemingly, the kitchen is bright and airy; an excellent place to while away an afternoon and soak in the mountain views through the large windows.

Hiking the Tablelands day three: Salisbury Lodge to Balloon Hut

This part of the track crosses the tablelands proper; a high rolling plateau with grasses rustling in the breeze, patches of beech forest, and 360-degree mountain views.

It took us one hour and fifteen minutes to reach Balloon Hut from Salisbury Lodge along a path angled gently uphill. Walking in the open, and on a sunny day, we were glad to reach Balloon Hut, throw off our packs and rehydrate under the verandah.

Balloon Hut, nestled at the top of the Tablelands

Snugly situated on the edge of the tree line, surrounded on three sides by beech forest, Balloon Hut doesn’t have the panoramic views of Salisbury lodge. Still, with its sunny verandah and spacious interior, it has a charm all of its own.

There’s been a hut on this site since the gold mining days of the early 1900s. The current incarnation was built in 1963 and renovated by volunteers in 1995. They did a great job, and the hut is a sound, less busy alternative to Salisbury Lodge. It has 14 bunks, a wood burner, outdoor sinks, and one of the tables even doubles as a draughts board, with large wooden playing pieces.

Hiking the Tablelands day four: Ballon Hut to Asbestos Cottage

If you’re up early, it’s worth walking 50 metres up the track to watch the sunrise over the distant peaks before you depart.

We were keen to maximise our time above the trees, so we departed Balloon Hut in the direction of Mount Peel. Much windier than the day before, it was a relief to sidle off the ridge down towards Lake Peel in Kahurangi National Park.

From Lake Peel, the track continues to the broad ridge bordering the Cobb Valley. Here, the sun came out, the wind dropped, and the views again repeatedly had us stopping in our tracks.

View after Balloon Hut and before Mount Peel

Unfortunately, the track eventually drops steeply off the ridge towards the Cobb Valley. This height must then be gained again to cross a coll back into the tablelands. The trail continues from here, down through the forest to the valley floor.

The ascent from the valley floor to Asbestos Cottage was steeper than we had expected but we still arrived in time for lunch, after about four and a half hours of walking.

Toadstool in the forest between Balloon Hut and Asbestos Cottage

Asbestos Cottage, a hut with a great backstory in Kahurangi National Park

Surrounded by forest, this historic hut sits in a clearing part-way up the Takaka River valley. Home, between 1914 and 1951, to two hermits who ran away into the forest together to escape previous marriages – and the disapproval that came with that – staying here gives you a taste of their life.

Henry would make the long walk out to Takaka for supplies, while Annie lived here as an Edwardian lady, long after those times and ways had ended elsewhere.

The cottage has been preserved close to its original condition. With gaps between some of the boarding, the large open fire is a godsend, although you will have to scavenge for wood yourself as this hut is not supplied by the DOC. Likewise, water is from a small stream a short walk away.

The cottage is split into two rooms: a cosy living room with an open fire, rustic chairs made from rough timber and hessian sacks, and the bedroom containing four standard DOC bunks. It’s a bit rough and ready, but worth the experience of staying in a hut with such a fascinating backstory.

Hiking the Tablelands Day 5: Asbestos Cottage to Upper Gridiron Hut

This is a short walk – it took us two hours – through forested river valleys. When we visited over Easter, this part of the forest was sweet with the smell of honeydew, a sugary secretion produced by insects in the beech trees. The rivers were full of enticing swim holes.

Upper Gridiron Hut only has a capacity for three. However, it is popular, so leave Asbestos Cottage early enough, or you might miss your spot.

Upper Gridiron Hut, one of Kahurangi National Park's quirkiest huts

This is a fantastic little hut, and the knowledge of its existence is what drew us to this area in Kahurangi National Park.

Two minutes up a steep switchback sidetrack from the main thoroughfare, Upper Gridiron Hut is built into a large rock overhang. Most of the roof is bare rock, and there’s only room for three bunks, a tiny wood burner, and a small worktop inside this pocket-sized hut.

The outdoor area is just as cool as the inside, with a large swing seat and a firepit sheltered by the massive overhanging rock. We arrived early, at 11am, and spent the rest of the day relaxing in this fantastic spot in the forest. From around 11.30am, others began to arrive, hoping to stay, only to find that we had got there first. As I said, it’s worth arriving early.

Thankfully, Flora Hut is pretty close if you do miss out. Lower Gridiron Shelter – a sleeping platform with standard DOC mattresses under a large rock overhang – is also close, only a three-minute back-track from the hut.

Hiking the Tablelands Day 6: Upper Gridiron Hut to Flora Car Park

Savour the morning at the hut if you have the time, as it’s only an hour and a half back to the car park along an easygoing vehicle track. Upper Gridiron Hut is exceptionally cosy, especially if you keep the wood burner going overnight. The swing seat is excellent for morning coffee, with South Island robins and wekas flitting by. Perfect.

Practicalities of Hiking the Tablelands in Kahurangi National Park

None of the huts here are bookable; it’s all first come, first served. However, there are plenty of options, so if your first choice is at capacity, it’s not usually far to the next. Parking is free at Flora Carpark, and there’s a small information shelter and toilet for Kahurangi National Park.

Water hole next to the Lower Gridiron Hut (short walk from Upper Gridiron Hut)

Prices for the huts vary, and you’ll need to purchase hut tickets in advance from a DOC visitor centre or outdoor shops like Kathmandu or Living Simply. The prices for the huts in Kahurangi National Park are as follows:

Flora Hut: Free
Mount Arthur Hut: $15 (one Serviced or three Standard Hut Tickets)
Salisbury Lodge: $15 (one Serviced or three Standard Hut Tickets)
Balloon Hut: $15 (one Serviced or three Standard Hut Tickets)
Asbestos Cottage: Free
Upper Gridiron Hut: $5 (one Standard Hut Ticket)

Getting away from the Tablelands hike in Kahurangi National Park

Much easier than many hikes in New Zealand, as the walk starts and ends at the same point. Just hop back in your car and drive away.

Maps for Kahurangi National Park

For this hike, we just printed the relevant sections from topomap.co.nz

We have lots more practical suggestions for travel in New Zealand HERE.