An obituary for backcountry huts: Te Urewera

When it was announced that the backcountry huts of Te Urewera were to be removed, we couldn’t resist having one final valedictory tour…

Ka hanga whare te tangata, ka hanga tangata te whare

A people builds a hut, a hut builds a people

Te Urewera, a land of rugged mountains cloaked by dense forest, often shrouded in stubborn mist. Homeland of Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Urewera maintains a fearsome reputation for its isolation and difficult country. In 2014, following the signing of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement between Ngāi Tūhoe and the Crown, Te Urewera ceased to be a national park, instead becoming its own legal entity represented by Te Uru Taumatua (TUT). In October 2022 TUT announced that it would be removing 48 backcountry huts from Te Urewera. These huts had been built by the New Zealand Forest Service when Te Urewera was a national park, to provide shelter for hunters and trampers in the isolated ranges. To me it sounded like a good opportunity for a final round of hutbagging. What I didn’t expect was the level of self-reflection that occurred along the way.

The week prior to labour weekend Regan had been on the phones ringing around to find out which huts hadn’t been burnt down yet. You can’t bag a pile of…