So when I hiked to the Pinnacles Hut, I had shocking weather meaning I didn’t get to take many photos. My head was down a lot of the way…so I feel like writing a usual blog post like you’d see on Chur New Zealand isn’t that helpful.
But what I can help you with is mentioning the things I learned before, during, and after hiking to Pinnacles Hut. These are ‘good to know’ kind of things..such as its various names, Kauaeranga Kauri Trail, Pinnacles Walk, and Pinnacles Hut hike. I’m surprised DOC referred to this as a walk.
First, I’ll quickly let you know that the hike from the trailhead to Pinnacles Hut is 12.70km return (based on my watch), with 675 metres of elevation gain. Here’s the elevation profile:
Now to get into the tips.
1. Take a good look at the map of the Kauaeranga Valley (where the hike starts) as it’s a long valley and there’s a lot going on…and you’ll avoid my mistake below.
2. The DOC Visitor Centre is located 9km from the Pinnacles trailhead. Having hitched to the DOC Visitor Centre, I was expecting to be straight onto the trail…but nope, I had a 9km hike to get there. I thought I’d just been looking at the map wrong.
3. You can camp right by the trailhead for the Pinnacles Hike (Trestle View), or one of the other campgrounds. You can book these campgrounds at the DOC Visitor Centre (check opening hours) or online. That link also lists all the visitor centre facilities.
4. There are long drop toilets at most (maybe all) of the campsites in the Kauaeranga Valley.
5. There are lots of other walks and hikes you can do between the DOC Visitor Centre and The Pinnacles Trailhead. The only other walk I did was the Cookson Kauri Walk, which is awesome. But there are shorter and longer options. You could easily base yourself in the valley for a week and be on new tracks each day.
6. It’s a massive Hut with 80 beds, making it the largest DOC Hut in the country.
7. You can get phone reception beyond the visitor centre, but there are plenty of dead spots and areas where you won’t have any phone reception. On the hike, the same thing occurred…at the Hut itself I had good reception.
8. The famous Pinnacles viewpoint is past the Hut. I didn’t go there as the rain was horrendous when I got to the Hut, with low cloud around I figured there wouldn’t be much of a view so got out of there. That said, you really should try to get to the viewpoint…apparently it’s epic.
9. If you’re day hike to Pinnacles Hut, be aware the Hut is closed during the day…from ~9.30 to 2.30pm. Hut facilities are only for overnight guests.
10. The last stop for supplies in Thames. But there are snacks and drinks available at the visitor centre. The Thames supermarket is great. There’s also a few cafe/takeaway options.
11. There are certainly easier hikes to do as a first overnight hike for kids. But this is a good option if you want to get them into ‘tramping’…by which in this case I mean the terrain isn’t super easy, and there’s some incline involved.
I hope some of those tips for hiking the Pinnacles made you think ‘ah cool’ or ‘chur’…something like that.
If you’ve got any other tips and tricks, leave them in the comments below!
Chur,
Jub
p.s. this map has all of the hikes featured on Chur New Zealand. If you click on the track icons, you’ll be able to open a link to read all about it.
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.