The 52 Huts I Bagged in 2025 – And the Bonus Ones That Took Me Even Further

Huts I bagged in 2025

At the beginning of 2025 I set myself a goal: reach 52 huts in a year.

Not because the number mattered—but because I needed something to move toward when everything else felt uncertain.

By May I was deep in medical appointments, diagnoses, and surgery dates. By winter I was learning how to rebuild my body. And by spring, I was walking back into the backcountry with a very different relationship to both risk and resilience.

Those 52 huts became anchors in the storm. And somehow, without even planning it, I didn’t stop at 52.

This is the story of the huts that carried me through 2025.

Huts 1–5: Styx–Arahura Circuit

My year began in the West Coast backcountry, surrounded by moss-covered trees, braided rivers, and the slow rhythm of multi-day tramping.

These five huts came from the Styx–Arahura Circuit:

• Mid Styx Hut

• Mudflats Hut

• Newton Creek Hut

• Lower Arahura Hut

• Singers Hut

This circuit set the tone for the year: remote, muddy, wild—and grounding in a way only the Coast can be.

Huts 6–7: Godley Head Track

A very different landscape followed, this time with coastal views and wartime history:

• Scotts Hut

• Lighthouse Generator Cottage

Even close to the city, these huts reminded me that adventure doesn’t always mean far from home.

Huts 8–15: Oteake Conservation Area

This was one of the biggest single hut hauls of the year, deep in the Otago backcountry:

• Bown Hut

• Green Gully Hut

• Hut Creek Hut

• Tailings Hut

• Chimney Creek Hut

• Wire Yard Hut

• Ida Railway Hut

• Buster Hut

Dry, golden, rugged, and steeped in mining history—this area felt like stepping back in time.

Huts 16–18: Canterbury Classics

Back closer to home, but no less special:

• Worsley Biv

• Casey Hut (new)

• Rod Donald Hut

Rod Donald Hut, perched high on the Port Hills, became a symbol of how much beauty exists right above Christchurch.

Huts 19–25: Valleys and Recovery Miles

As I moved deeper into recovery, these huts marked slow but steady progress:

• Blackadder Rest

• Pell Stream Hut

• Pinchgut Hut

• Hawdon DOC Staff Biv

• East Hawdon Biv

• Home Gully Hut

• Spurs Hut

Each one was another reminder that I was still capable of long days, climbs, and carrying my pack into wild places.

Hut 26: Maitland Hut

A small hut with a big sense of solitude. A place to sit quietly and just be.

Huts 27–31: West Coast Roady

One of the most fun trips of the year—a hut-bagging road trip down the Coast:

• Wineberry Hut

• Miners Hut

• Blowfly Hut

• Defiance Hut

• Hendes Hut

Short walks, big character, and a reminder that not every hut requires a suffer-fest.

Huts 32–35: From the Port Hills to the High Country

• Packhorse Biv

• Rapid Creek Hut

• Frew Hut

• Lockwood Shelter

A mix of history, weather, and wide open spaces.

Huts 36–39: From Quail Island to Ryton

• Otamahua Hut

• Omahu Bush Hut

• Bert Lyttle’s Lodge

• Monck Hut

These huts spanned harbour islands to mountain valleys—showing just how diverse New Zealand’s hut network truly is.

Huts 40–45: Mackenzie and Beyond

• Greta Lodge

• Back Hut

• Pearson Hut

• Backyard Hut

• Baikie Hut

• Gladstone Stream Hut

Dry country, big skies, and long 4WD tracks—this part of the year felt like freedom.

Huts 46–48: Otamatapaio

• Otamatapaio Stone Hut

• Blue Hut

• Otamatapaio Hut

A magical cluster of historic huts tucked into a remarkable valley.

Huts 49–52: Finishing the 52

• Botany Hut

• Leaning Lodge Hut

• Red Hut

• Kahikatea Lodge

When I reached Kahikatea Lodge, I’d done it: 52 huts for the year.

But instead of feeling finished, I just wanted to keep going.

The Bonus Huts: When 52 Wasn’t the End

Somewhere along the way, the goal quietly shifted. It stopped being about a number—and became about momentum.

These huts carried me closer to my long-term goal of 400 huts.

Hut 53

• Staircase Hut

Huts 54–56

• Jollie Hut

• Green Point Hut

• Littles Hut

Hut 57

• Possumers Hut

Hut 58

• Kohanga Atawhai Manson Nicholls Hut

Huts 59–60

• Devils Den Biv

• Lucretia Hut

Huts 61–68

• Drummond Creek Hut

• Long Gully Hut

• Boundary Hut

• Nicholsons Hut

• AA Hut

• Potters Hut

• Christies Hut

• Head Hut

By the end of the year, 52 had quietly turned into 68.

More Than Numbers

Hut bagging gave me something to hold onto during one of the hardest years of my life. Each hut meant:

• I walked another valley

• I climbed another ridge

• I trusted my body again

• I kept going

Some huts were big missions. Some were gentle strolls. Some were uncomfortable. Some felt like home.

But all of them became part of my 2025 story.

And I’m not done yet.

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