Hump Ridge Track

The Hump Ridge is unusual in origin: it was built and run by a community trust in Tuatapere from 2001, after the timber industry that had supported the town collapsed, as a deliberate attempt to create work - and in 2024 it became New Zealand's eleventh Great Walk, the first added in decades. The loop runs about sixty kilometres over three days from Rarakau on the south coast, climbing to the Hump Ridge at around a thousand metres with views over Te Waewae Bay and, on a clear day, Stewart Island, then descending to follow the coast back. Along the coastal section are the Percy Burn and Edwin Burn viaducts, wooden trestle structures built in the 1920s for logging tramways - Percy Burn is among the largest surviving wooden viaducts in the world. Lodges rather than basic huts, with beds and meals available, which makes it more comfortable than most.

What you actually see

• The Percy Burn viaduct - among the largest wooden viaducts anywhere.
• The Hump Ridge tops - a thousand metres above Te Waewae Bay.
• The south coast - the return leg along a wild shoreline.
• The lodges - beds and meals rather than basic huts.

When to go

November to April. Book lodges well ahead - capacity is limited and it has become busier since the Great Walk designation. Shuttles run from Tuatapere.

Honest expectations

The first day is a long steady climb and people underestimate it. The tops are exposed and the weather is Southland weather. Lodges cost considerably more than DOC huts. Sandflies on the coastal section.

Nearby

Tuatapere is the base; Te Waewae Bay and Riverton are along the coast.