Rangiwahia Hut

Overview: a quick tramp in to one of Ruahine Forest Park's most popular huts for a night on the snowy open tops. 25th-26th July 2026.

The sky was grey, the air misty, and sporadically heavy rain was falling as I trundled may way along the road of rural Rangitikei. Turning on to the gravel of Renfrew Road, the thick cloud obscured any view of the Ruahine Range. 
A couple of gates block the last section of the access road where it crossed farm land - leaved them as you find them (i.e., closed).
The carpark sits at an altitude just over 800 m - a pleasing fact considering that the hut is sited at a grand 1310 m, leaving an accessible climb of around 500 m spread out kindly over the 4.3 km track. For comparison, the tramp to Powell Hut involves an elevation gain of ~900 m. Even Herepai Hut requires an almost 500 m gain to reach the modest final altitude of 800 m.

The track starts climbing immediately, albeit gently. It's well graded and well maintained. A short distance in, the Deadmans Track branches off for a steep march directly up the ridge. I remain on the Rangiwahia Track, which winds sedately along the hillside, gradually gaining altitude. Switchbacks ease the gradient. At times I found the track reminiscent of the 5-mile loop track in the Remutaka Forest Park's Catchpool Valley area.

 

Above 1000 m there were occasional patches of snow, sleet began to mix with the rain, the forest became more stunted and shaped by the prevailing winds. The skeletons of dead pāhautea/mountain cedar loom in the mist. Gaps in the forest give glimpses of a steep neighbouring ridge, scarred by slips. In places, the forest is dominated by the distinctive horopito tree - the landscape here is prone to landslides, which take out much of the shallowly rooted red beech that make up much of the forest. Horopito readily repopulates such areas before any other species, so these patches of horopito-dominated forest tell a story of movement of the land in days gone by.

The track gets close to 1100 m, and diverts steeply over the top of an unstable slip before descending to a dramatic bridge over a gorge of an unnamed tributary of the Mangawharariki River. This bridge is a highlight of the track - an almost delicate-looking wooden arch spanning a gap between a pair of rocky promontories that form a natural gateway, towering over the river far below.

After the bridge and a brief section of incongruous concrete path, the climb begins again with a series of stairs made of timber, gravel, concrete and natural slabs of rock. As I wend my way further up the hillside, the trees eventually thin and transition to tussock and alpine scrub. At times the track is cut deeply into the hill and the scrub branching overhead provides welcome shelter. The rain was now falling as snow, and where previously the exertion of the tramp kept the chill at bay, I was now starting to feel it.

A small waterfall is passed about 300 m from the hut, but the first sign I was almost there was the sight of what I would later find out was the woodshed appearing on the horizon. Shortly afterward the hut came into view, and there was much rejoicing. 

I could not, however, immediately relax. First I had to make several trips in the increasing voluminous snow to the oddly distant woodshed, which included unearthing the axe from under to snow in order to chop kindling while gradually losing feeling in the gloved fingers. Soon enough though, I was in the hut, firewood piled up and the fire started, drying off and changing into warm, dry clothes while some water was on the boil for a hot drink.
Rangiwahia is a bookable hut, and last I checked it was fully booked. I was the first to arrive and was alone for about an hour before a grand total of three other people arrived - a far cry from the full hut I had expected, but a pleasant surprise.

The icing on the cake of a pleasant evening was a couple if ice cold beers out of the mountain fridge:

The next morning, the skies had cleared and a thick coating of fresh snow covered the hut and its surrounds. After a modest sleep-in and a couple of coffees it was time to head out. I had toyed with the idea returning via a loop over the tops and down the Deadmans Track. I decided I couldn't be bothered slogging through several kilometres of potentially deep snow and the sogginess that would entail. Instead, it would be a quick return back down the Rangiwahia Track.

 

It was a pleasant walk out in the much improved weather, although once the trees became taller and the track more covered by the forest canopy, lumps of snow mobilised by the morning sun began to drop, hitting the ground with heavy slaps. At times, the snow melt from the canopy was like walking in the rain.

Back across the bridge, the snow is soon left behind on the descent. Plenty of day hikers were making the most of the good weather to get out into the hills and see the snow.
The end of track appeared unexpectedly quickly and it was time for the drive home.

It's easy to see why this hut is as popular as it is, the reward-to-effort ratio is pretty hard to beat. A great little getaway from reality for the weekend.

Map:

Elevation Profile:

Times and Distance:

Car park to bridge: 2.60 km, 1 hr; bridge to hut: 1.72 km, 52 min. Total 4.32 km, 1 hr 52 min.
Return time 1 hr 31 min. Elevation difference: +/- 482 .