Photo: Across the Ruahines
The Ruahine Range runs north-east from near Palmerston North towards Hawke's Bay, and most of it is protected as Ruahine Forest Park. Its character is bush on the lower slopes and open, tussock tops above, which gives long views on a good day and very little shelter on a bad one.
Club trips here are mostly weekend hut trips of medium grade, with Sunrise, Howletts, Rangiwahia, Iron Gate and Triangle huts among the places that come up most often. One report describes a longer crossing of the range.
The tops are exposed, so wind and cloud matter here. The reports run from the 1970s to the present and cover every month of the year.
Highlight trips
Across the Ruahines2016 · Medium
The Haunting of Iron Gate Hut2020 · Easy-Medium
A Steak in the Hills2016 · Easy-Medium
Irongate Hut (via Tunupō)2021 · Easy-Medium
Sun and snow on the way to Daphne Hut2018 · Easy-Medium
The Triangle Trio – Triangle hut via Rangiwahia2022 · Medium
See-the-Saw Soaring into the Sky2019 · Alpine 1
Maitland Pass – with a llama and bananas2024 · Medium-Fit
Restorative Retreat Weekend at Gosling Hut – Leatham Conservation Area2019
Te Atuaoparapara – Ruahine Forest Park2025 · Medium-Fit- Trip reportRiver Bashing in the RuahinesFor those who find it tedious to wade through lengthy trip reports of trips they missed here is a quick precy: Two-hour Friday night grunt to Travers Hut; leatherwood crawl; river-bash to Forks Hut; vertical bush-bash to Makawakawa Stream; river-bash to…
- From the newsletterRuahines – Hikurangi Range 1-3 MayFriday night-saw us off in the van with Kev . Thoapgon at the wheel .and nine ‘others crammed into various postures in the room left after the packs had been thrown in. With Mangaweka behind us and.some expert navigating by Kev through the hinterland we ended…
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