Waipakihi Hut and Urchin

Activity Date: 25 April 2026
Updated: 7 May 2026
People: Finn, Jen, Korra 🐕

Day 1: To Waipakihi Hut

The long weekend arrived, and we hit the road after work on Friday evening, taking our as-of-yet-unnamed van off to Waikoko Campsite at the western foot of the Kaimanawa Mountains. After a couple of dog mishaps in the van (💩), we arrived at the campsite in the cold and dark. Unfortunately, we found out at that point that the diesel heater wasn’t working, so we resigned ourselves to a chilly night in the van.

We woke in the morning with a rather cold dog in the van and a hard frost outside. Once we all managed to warm up, we headed off. We left the van at Waikoko Campsite and walked ~1.5 km up the 4WD track to the Umukarikari Track start. From there, the track climbed unrelentingly to the treeline some 600m above us. Jen’s legs weren’t feeling it, so she was having a bit of a suffer-fest. Korra, however, was vibing it. She vibed it even more when we let her off the leash to run around smelling tussocks, having judged that there was little native wildlife that she could damage (as opposed to in the bush).

The views along the track past Sharp Cone and Umukarikari were just magnificent. It was equal parts views of Lakes Taupō and Rotoaira, Mts Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, and the depths of the Kaimanawa Mountains. It was just gorgeous. We were equally blessed by stunning weather: blue skies and nary a breeze.

After passing the sharp pinch of a climb to the top of Umukarikari, the track eases off and begins its undulating descent toward Waipakihi Hut. We were lucky enough to find a couple of good patches of snow, and Korra was more than willing to play in it while also biting it. So cute. Once the track reached the treeline, it became a good deal steeper, more rutted, and quite rocky. It was interesting how rough this last descent was in comparison to the ascent. Still, it was over relatively quickly, and Korra was very good about waiting for us to manage the leash. Last was a quick hop across the quite shallow Waipakihi headwaters and up to the hut.

We were the second party to arrive that day, upping the count to four. By the end of the night, the 12 beds were full, five people were sleeping on the floor, and there were at least 8 tents outside. It was busy. Korra did as well as could be expected, which was to generally mind her own business, but she did bark at a couple of people who were a little more persistent in wanting to pat her, despite her bared teeth and displeased face.

☕️ Porridge & coffee
🥜 Nut bar x2
🌮 Hummus & cheese wrap
🍴 Baked beans on mash potato
🍫 Hot drinks and gingernut biscuits

Day 2: Out via Urchin

We woke to a hard frost. The whole area was frozen, including the gas bottle! After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to boil some water for the hot water bottles and then got Korra out to pee before heading back to my sleeping bag for another hour to let a few groups depart. It was much quieter by the time we got out of bed for real, which helped Korra have an easier morning. She mooched around and made some friends while grovelling (unsuccessfully) for pancakes and other breakfast foods.

We were one of the last groups to head out, and by that time, the sun was up, the sky was blue, and we had warmed up quite sufficiently. We hopped across the creek and began the climb back to Umukarikari. It was a fair grunt to reach the tops, although it definitely eased off after we got out of the bush. We were blessed to have stunning weather and to be facing the Central Plateau for the whole day. It was simply stunning, non-stop.

We strongly recommend taking the detour via Urchin. It is a fair bit longer but involves a lovely traverse through a bushed saddle and a simply beautiful outlook from Urchin itself to the plateau. We said hi (from a distance) to a couple who were camping with their dog before sitting down to have a cup of tea. Sunset was soon upon us and Jen was gracious enough to pose with the dog — thanks, love.

From there, it was a relatively short (1:10hrs) descent through the forest to the 4WD road. Korra did great through this section as she was clearly tired, and we were walking by headlight. We spotted an enormous spider, but she didn’t seem interested. We certainly were, though! We didn’t know they came so large in Aotearoa!

Last up was a bit of gravel road-walking back to the van. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that the track didn’t go all the way to Urchin Campsite, and thus we had almost 5 km of walking left to do. Jen was not impressed. Still, she led us on at quite the pace, and we were back at the van within the hour.

Thanks, Waipakihi, it was stunning, if cold! 🥶

☕️ Porridge & coffee
🥜 Nut bar x2
🌮 Hummus & cheese wrap
🍫 Hot drinks and gingernut biscuits