Brass Monkey Hut
Brass Monkey Hut is a four-bunk backcountry hut in Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve, run by the Backcountry Trust. It provides booked sleeping space for four people, with emergency bunk space available around the table if conditions turn bad and you arrive when some sleeping spaces aren’t bookable.
Bookings are required year-round. Fees are $25 per adult per night and $12.50 per youth (ages 5–17), and Backcountry Hut Passes/Tickets don’t apply at this hut. Reservation is required, and use is via DOC’s booking system for the bookable bunks.
The hut has drinking water and toilets with a pit latrine. The hut is supplied from a pond/tarn, so treat water before drinking.
Access is typically a 7–8 hour walk across the tops from Lewis Pass when the weather is fine, using a marked route through beech forest to open tops and then an unmarked, exposed traverse over the peaks of the Apprentice and Lucretia before dropping to the hut. When wet weather drives difficult crossings, the best alternative route heads down into Duchess Stream to connect with the Nina Hut track (about 4–5 hours).