Sam Summers Hut

Sam Summers Hut is a historic gold-prospector hut in the Queenstown area, sitting on the Mt Crichton Loop Track in Mt Crichton Scenic Reserve beside a waterfall. It’s managed by the Department of Conservation and is accessed on foot from the Mt Crichton car park 12 km from Queenstown on the Glenorchy–Queenstown Road.

Use is day visitors only: overnight stays are not permitted (from 1 December 2021). Fires are not allowed at any time, and the hut is a day-use destination rather than a place to camp overnight.

The loop walk is typically around 2.5–3 hours, with a shorter option of about 1 hour to Sam Summers Hut and the waterfall via the left side of the loop track (the true right of Twelve Mile Creek). The same track system also passes historic gold-mining features, including sluicing remnants and a tail-race tunnel.