If you’re looking for a nice hut to visit when you’re short on time, and/or are taking people on their first overnight hut stay, then Kirtle Burn Hut is a great option.
It’s also a good option to visit with kids. In terms of difficulty, it’s a step up from Meg Hut if you include the summit.
This post will give you all the details about hiking into and staying at the Kirtle Burn Hut, with the possible additional visit to Mount Pisa summit.
p.s. I’ve only been in the summer when the snow has more or less all melted. You can ski tour/snow shoe to the Hut in winter months, but that’s beyond my knowledge.
p.p.s. Sorry about the lack of photos!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Kirtle Burn Hut Details
2. Kirtle Burn Hut Map
3. How To Get There
4. My Kirtle Burn Track Experience
1. KIRTLE BURN HUT DETAILS
How hard is the hike to Kirtle Burn Hut?
It’s an easy hike with well formed tracks and no extended steep sections. The trail is well maintained, with just a couple of short creek crossings to navigate (you’ll be able to keep your feet dry if you find the narrow sections to cross).
What distance is the Kirtle Burn Track?
Note: On the DOC website you’ll see the say the track is 12.38km loop. That’s not including the distance from the Snow Farm carpark to the edge of the Pisa Conservation Area.
From the Snow Farm carpark to Kirtle Burn Hut, via the lower track is ~7.6km based off my GPS watch, making for a 15.2km return trip. You can add another 6km if you go to the Pisa Summit for a total of 21.2km. Essentially a half marathon!
If you come back via the Higher Kirtle Burn Track, you’ll add another couple of kilometres to the distance.
What is the elevation profile like?
This is the elevation profile from Snow Farm to Kirtle Burn Hut via the route you’ll see in the map below.
How long does it take to reach Kirtle Burn Hut?
As a group of 9 walking to Kirtle Burn Hut, it took us 2 hours and 20 minutes. That included a 20 minute break at Meadow Hut for a sandwich. You can definitely hike it faster in smaller groups, but as a group we were reasonably fit and used to hiking.
How many bunks are there?
7.
Can you camp at Kirtle Burn Hut?
There’s not a whole lot of flat land around the Hut. You’ll need to walk around a bit to find a good spot if there’s more than 1 or 2 camping there. But yes, you can.
The hut isn’t big, and while it’s not a heavily visited, it’s worth taking a tent as there’s not much floor space.
What are the Kirtle Burn Hut fees?
Adult (18+): $10/night
Youth (5 to 17): $5/night
Child/Infant (4 and under): free
Don’t forget to buy your DOC Hut tickets before you go.
Can you visit the hut in winter?
You can. Though depending on what the conditions are like, you might not be able to hike in. Rather, you’ll need to go with snow shoes back country skiing.
2. KIRTLE BURN HURT MAP
This is the GPX route of the route we took into the hut. Clicking on the image will open it in a new window on Topo Map NZ where you can zoom in and out etc.
You can download my GPX file into your favourite topo map app to make sure you don’t stray too far from the route I took.
3. HOW TO GET THERE
Most people are going to access Kirtle Burn Hut from Snow Farm carpark (here).
The road to Snow Farm is just north of Cardrona between Wanaka and Queenstown.
From October to April (when Snow Farm is closed), you pay a toll of $20 cash in the drop box just before the closed gate (you can’t miss it).
The drive up the road is usually not too bad, provided there’s no snow and it’s not super wet. People in all sorts of cars get up the road.
4. MY KIRTLE BURN TRACK EXPERIENCE
Having spent a season at Snow Farm with a season pass, it was weird going back with only the last remaining patches of snow scattered about. I was hiking with the Queenstown Rotaract group, so by the time we started hiking it was about midday.
With 55km of trail, it might feel confusing as to what track you’re supposed to take to Kirtle Burn Hut as there’s so many ski trails.
But there’s plenty of signage, with the first aim to make sure you follow the signs to Meadow Hut, ~3.2km away.
The first 2km are a steady descent, before you start hiking back up a gentle incline to Meadow Hut.
From Meadow Hut, a good snack stop spot, keep following the track (River Run), staying low as we’re not going to Musterers Hut. You’ll then get to the edge of the Snow Farm property after another 800 metres or so, which you leave and enter the Pisa Conservation Area.
To get to Kirtle Burn Hut there’s a lower track and higher track. I’ve only ever done the lower track.
The track is easy to follow all the way. The climb is steady with a couple of short sharp sections, but nothing outrageous. In mid-November, we had just a couple of short snow sections to cross which were safe as.
The two small stream crossings are possible to jump across if you look around a little bit, even if there’s been some snow melt/rain recently. The Hut doesn’t come into view until you’re about 300 metres away.
Kirtle Burn is mint, positioned in a little valley where you’ll get plenty of sun in the summer months. Though it can be chilly overnight. There’s no fire in the Hut, so make sure to bring plenty of warm layers with you.
From the Hut, you can continue to the summit of Mount Pisa.
From Kirtle Burn Hut to the summit is about 3km each way along the well formed tracks. With Kirtle Burn Hut at about 1680 metres, you’ve got about 300 metres of climbing to reach the 1963 metre summit. The summit isn’t your traditional summit, with the Pisa Ranges forming a plateau of some sorts (below).
It’s really cool and different!
If you can, go on the day you arrive. That takes some pressure off for the day back out to the carpark.
In theory you can descend from Mt Pisa down the Tinwald Ridge Track on the other side of the ranges, but that’s a long descent and requires some car shuttling. Making it an enjoyable cruisey in and out from the Snow Farm carpark is the way to go for most.
The return back to Snow Farm, you could consider going the high route which apparently is great, and has more hills and is a longer route, but see how you feel. I haven’t been that way yet, so have just been the way out the way I’ve come via the lower Kirtle Burn Track.
Once you’re back at the car, hopefully you’ve got time for a beer and chips at the famous Cardrona Pub.
And there we go. I should really add Kirtle Burn Hut to a great overnight hike near Wanaka and near Queenstown.
If you’ve got any questions or comments about the hike to Kirtle Burn Hut, let me know in the comments below or email jub@churnewzealand.com.
Chur,
Jub.
p.s. Here’s a map of all the hikes documented on Chur New Zealand. You can click the icon to see brief details, as well as a link to read more about the hike (like this post).
Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.