Greenstone ValleyBranch hut
Mid Greenstone
Sleeps
12 beds2 bunk roomsCooking
Hob + burner4-ring gas cooker + wood/coal burnerHeat
Wood/coal burnerWater
Drinkingwater from a tap inside the hut, fed from a stream up behind the hutTwelve bunks in two rooms, tucked beside the bush line near Steele Creek. Double-glazed in 2023, a gravity-fed shower, and WiFi — more than most back-country huts can say.
The Mid Greenstone was the branch's first hut, taken on from the Department of Conservation in 2004 and looked after by volunteers ever since. In October 2023 members put in double glazing and a handful of other improvements. About a 4–5 hour walk from the Greenstone car park at the Glenorchy end. The branch's stoat trap line runs from here up the Steele Creek valley.
Facilities in the Mid Greenstone Hut
- Doc style bunks for 12 people (6 in each room)
- Mattresses.
- Kitchen bench, sink, table with stool type benches.
- Wood/coal burner
- 4 ring gas cooker
- Drop toilet (away from the building behind the wood store).
- Drinking water via tap inside hut (comes from a stream well up behind the hut)
- LED solar powered lighting to reduce the fire risk.
- USB charging point - bring your own cable
- Axe and saw.
- Plates, cups, glasses, knives and forks and cooking utensils.
- Frying pans, plenty of cooking pots, large sized stock pot, medium and small saucepans, a skillet for meat, a cast iron ‘dutch oven’ and a “yoyo” yogurt maker
- Meat safe (for hunters)
- Pantry (with emergency food often left behind)
- Shower - gravity fed (heat the water on the fire)
- Wood shed - usually with wood in it
Internet
The Mid Greenstone Hut is equipped with WiFi, provided to support important conservation efforts in the valley.
The connection powers our AI-driven trap line, ensuring native species like the kea are protected by accurately identifying pest animals. While staying at the hut, you can also access the WiFi for personal use.
Please note that WiFi access requires payment by Paypal or credit / debit card.
By booking and staying with us, you’re contributing to the Southern Lakes NZDA’s mission to preserve New Zealand’s unique natural heritage. Thank you for supporting this vital work!
Branch members stay free. A refundable $50 key deposit is charged at booking and refunded to your card within three working days of returning the key.
Tariffs
- Branch member
- Free
- NZDA member (other branch)
- $10 / bed / night
- Public
- $30 / bed / night
- Key deposit
- $50 refundable
Getting there
There are no signposts to this hut — print directions, especially if you'll arrive after dark.
From the Steele Creek / McKellar end: a few metres past the swing bridge at Steele Creek, take the old track that climbs left uphill (not signposted; it follows our stoat trap line). Orange markers (and the older white/red Permolat where slips have washed over) lead all the way to the hut, about 15 minutes up.
From the Glenorchy side: about an hour past the DOC Greenstone Hut you reach the open flats — a DOC sign warns about cattle. Continue along the flats (wind blows hard in the afternoons, river on your left). After crossing a rock slip right next to the river, keep going 10–15 minutes to a small boggy area with stepping stones. Count two orange poles; the path slightly climbs onto a hump and runs nearer the bushline than it has for a while. The next orange marker pole has electrical tape around the orange — turn right here. Head up the gully, cross the dried-up stream, and pick up the markers (orange, plus the odd tin-can lid on a tree). The track climbs steeply at first with a small switchback, then runs along the edge of the tree line up to the hut. About 20 minutes from the right turn.
If you reach the Ultimate Hikes lodge at Steele Creek, you've gone too far.
Gallery
Before you go
- Axe and saw — chop on the block, not the decking, and never live trees
- WiFi: Paid WiFi (PayPal or card). Primarily there for the AI trap line we run from this valley — but you're welcome to use it
- Drop toilet, behind the wood store
- Pantry: Small pantry, with the odd bit of emergency food left behind