Waiaua Gorge Hut
Waiaua Gorge Hut is a Department of Conservation backcountry hut in the Taranaki region, used for overnight trips or a day tramp in the western side of Taranaki Maunga. The hut has 16 bunk beds, with mattresses provided.
Use is pay-per-stay via DOC hut tickets placed in an honesty box, and bookings aren’t required (first come, first served). Facilities include a fireplace with wood supplied, a containment-tank toilet a short walk from the hut, and cold running water from a rainwater tank; water is untreated. The hut sits on routes that include an approach from Ihaia Road on the Ihaia Track (about 5.9 km, roughly 2 hr 30 min to 3 hr 30 min one way), with a track reroute due to a washout; an alternate route from the Around the Mountain Circuit is also possible. When approaching from the Ihaia Track side, there’s a short track into the Waiaua River about 500 m before the Oaonui Track junction, and the route up the riverbed requires caution because of loose debris and can be impassable in flood.