Mount Curtis Hut
Mount Curtis Hut is a community-built and maintained backcountry hut open to the public on a donation-for-use basis. It was built in 2012 with Department of Conservation permission to replace a derelict, unconsented hunter’s hut from the early 1970s. The hut is near the bushline in the northern Brunner Range, tucked on a spur separating the Rough and Dee Creek catchments, with easy access to the tops and an all-day-sun, very sheltered setting.
The hut has four bunks, a woodburner, a table, and a covered entranceway. It also includes a woodshed, an outdoor cooking area with a kitchen bench and sink, plus a toilet and a roof-fed water tank. The usual approach is via a community-maintained track from SH6 near Inangahua: the route is recut when the hut was built, is mostly marked with pink flagging tape, and includes a best ford about 100 m above the first side-stream. The last water before the hut is a small creek about an hour in; allow roughly four hours up at a steady pace and about three hours back down.