Hike to Maketawa Hut
Egmont National Park, New Zealand
Details
Distance
4.2 miles
Elevation Gain
787.4 ft
Route Type
Out-and-Back
Description
Added by Tiffany Young
Epic mountainside views. Beautiful native forest. Awesome half day walk.
Limited time in Egmont National Park? Not up for summiting Taranaki? Well, the hike to Maketawa Hut (via Translator Road) will bring you face to face with Taranaki and offers a gorgeous half day hike.
To top if off, if you luckily have a clear day, you'll get to experience the sights of Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe, and Mt Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park, not too far away! It's pretty unreal.
COOL THING ALERT: If you’re into weird and cool natural creations, you’ll totally geek out about how you can see the forest edges rounding the park perfectly. (Check out what the park looks like on Google Maps/a topo map! It's wild.)
Getting there is easy and it is the closest entrance to the park from New Plymouth. Head south on SH 3 and then take a right onto Egmont Rd for about 16km. The road will take you to the North Egmont Visitor Centre where you can park your car and walk right up to the start of the tracks.
From the visitor centre, you'll walk on a boardwalk for a short time before you reach a 4WD road surrounded by forest. This will take you up the mountain. Be wow'd as views of Mt Taranaki opens up and as the road becomes more exposed you'll notice Tongariro National Park in the distance!
On this hike, the highest point you will reach stands right in front of Mt Taranaki at 1200m (240m elevation gain from the centre.) From there you will return left and take a 126m decent down to the Maketawa Hut at 1074m.
The walk to the hut is well protected in native bush. When you reach the hut you'll have a great view of the area and Taranaki from the deck. This is a serviced hut with 16 mattresses, rain water tank, long drop toilet, and wood burner. If you plan to stay the night be sure to check-in with the visitor centre and purchase your hut ticket!
On your trip out of the hut, you can make this a loop by going 3.1 km down the Maketawa Track. This will take you through native forest with some steps and ladders for the decent. However, I always love the open views and choose to climb back up the ridge and follow the 4WD track back to the centre.
For more information about the hut check out the DOC website.
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