Front Row Seats to Tararua Treats: Cone-Winchcome Ridge circuit

A trip around the Dress Circle and a bit beyond

I’ll admit, I was a Tararua virgin for 23 long years. As small as the range is in stature compared to its southern counterparts, it more than makes up for it with its fearsome reputation. Early on the Saturday of Waitangi weekend I found myself gazing at the Tararua topo maps, tracing each track around in an effort to thread together a feasible trip. Whilst I was in the midst of this process I flicked Ella a message because I knew she would follow me blindly and not question my route choices. Very last minute decisions were made on the route, which ended up being tentatively penciled down on the PLB form in the MacPac outlet store in Petone as “Cone Hut to Kime Hut returning via Winchcome”.

Waiohine Gorge to Cone Hut

It was an hour and a half of driving till we pulled up at the dusty Waiohine Gorge Campsite (the road wasn’t the only dusty thing around). We crammed the food into our packs the best we could and set off on our merry way about 5pm in the direction of Cone Hut. Well, except we didn’t. The track we followed took us down to the river and left us wondering where the swingbridge was. This query was soon answered as we looked up to see a rather impressive bridge swinging high above us.