Love our Huts and Tracks

November is here and so the loving of our huts is in full action!

It’s wonderful to see so many of you out there enjoying the mahi. We’ve received some amazing reports from the field, with photos of shining windows and tidy fireplaces proving your amazing work! Over 500 huts have been register so far. A HUGE THANK YOU to 300 groups of people and individuals who have signed up. But there are still lots of huts to sign up for – including Ivory Lake Hut, our campaign’s feature hut!

Your tramping plans might be falling into place right now, so why not check the weather and start thinking about where you might want to go and which hut you might want to visit? We have prepared lists of huts still available, so check them out – one for the North Island and one for the South Island.

Entering data after your field trip

To enter data from your trip, please use the link below.

Your photos from the trip can be uploaded via WeTransfer.

With data from over 500 huts, it will be important to receive all the photos in a common file structure, and format. Attached is handout to take you through the steps.

By sharing data from your activities, you’re helping demonstrate the real, lasting value of our huts and contributing to one of the largest citizen science projects focused on backcountry conservation.

We know it takes a bit of time—and we’d all rather be outdoors—but every piece of data you enter helps us build a powerful knowledge base. With this shared information, we can make informed decisions and advocate for the best possible care for these huts.

Not part of the campaign yet?

If you haven’t already, now is the time to register your trip. All you have to do is select the hut(s) you want to visit and give a spring clean to and decide when is the best time to go. We’ll give you a simple checklist of things to do, and some tips and ideas on how to make the hut tidy and welcoming. Once you register, we’ll send you the checklist and some collateral to take with you when you visit the hut.

If you register last minute and there is not enough time for the mail to reach you, please consider printing the form yourself or downloading it on your phone before you go. You can find the check list here. Once back home, we’d love you to enter the findings in the form above.

We’ve also partnered up with some generous sponsors, so every week we draw a prize for a lucky winner, who has registered in the last week. So far, we’ve given away stunning Love Thy Land cards, 100 NZD voucher from Venture Outdoors and a headtorch from Bivouac Outdoor to Brendon, Brendan and Barbara so far.  There are other useful prizes waiting, so there are really no reasons not to register!

To sign up, please register below.

Register your trip

Use the form to select your hut, and also tell us details of when you might go, the number of people you are going with, and the planned route. It’s fine if dates, party size and routes change. If you are experiencing issues with the registration form, please try using Chrome browser.

Once signed up we’ll send you further details, as well as post some material (including some stickers etc) before you head away.

Thanks so much for being involved!

Junction hut. Photo: Thiago Amaral

Why Love our Huts and Tracks campaign?

There’s a special feeling that comes when you round the corner on a track and see, at the edge of a clearing, a hut’s simple roof line and, with it, the prospect of a fire and a warm night.

We love our huts. They are places packed with stories, glimpses of which can be found in the hut book, the dripped wax and the worn surfaces that speak of the many nights people have spent protected from the elements.

Each of our public huts is a portal to the great outdoors, a place from which we step out into the taiao/ nature and a multitude of backcountry experiences. But we do our public huts and tracks a disservice if we only focus on their individual charms. Our network of public huts and tracks is so much more. It is the backbone of how, over many years, we have been able to care for nature and keep ourselves and each other safe in the backcountry.

FMC believes this needs to be protected and celebrated. Together, we can achieve this through the Love our Huts and Tracks campaign.

How can we achieve this?

Only with your help. We’re aiming to have over 900 public huts visited this November to give them a spring clean and health check, including the bridges and tracks along the way. If we want the whole network covered, we need as many of you on board as possible!

The hut health-check reports, which you – volunteers – will produce, will form the basis of a draft strategy reporting on the current state of our public network of huts, tracks and bridges, and the options on how we can together protect and strengthen this network. A workshop mid next year will bring together those involved in maintaining, protecting and managing the backcountry network to consider these options and chart a path forward. The Department of Conservation, Backcountry Trust, Permolat and other organizations are all supporting this campaign.

So, if there’s a hut you always wanted to visit, but never got to? Or the one that holds a special place in your heart? Now is the time to do it. This is once in a  lifetime opportunity to join hundreds of Kiwis and together give back to something that nourishes you.

Nelson tramping club at Beeby’s hut, Mt Richmond Forest Park

FAQs

I have registered the last minute and have not received any material via mail/email before heading out.

Thank you so much for registering the last minute! We might not be able to send out the material, but you can download this form. We recommend you print it out and take it with you or you can also keep it on your phone.

I’m back from a trip, what do I do now?

You can enter your findings here and upload your photos via WeTransfer. We’ve also prepared guidelines to help you with uploading the photos – please make sure you use the right naming structure, so we don’t lose your photos! If you have any issues or problems, please contact Masha – masha.oliver@fmc.org.nz – or Mick – mick.abbott@fmc.org.nz

I have a trip coming up in October and/or December. Can I still register?

As long as part of your trip takes place in November then it’s still fine to register. Note that we’ll start posting the material to all people who have registered to take it with them on a trip in the second half of October.

I decided which hut I want to visit, but it’s not showing up on the registration list.

If the hut you want to visit is not on the list, it means it has already been taken by someone else. To avoid disappointment, please, check the list above of the huts that are still available. We also suggest having a plan B in mind before starting the registration process.

Which huts are still left to sign up for?

As of end of October, there are still over 500 huts left to be registered. Please see the North Island huts and South Island huts lists for details.

Get in touch

For more information, please contact:

General information – loveourhuts@fmc.org.nz

Campaign and media inquiries – mick.abbott@fmc.org.nz

Clubs contacts – North Island: emma.gregg@fmc.org.nz, South Island: raymond.ford@fmc.org.nz

Keep in touch

You can follow the progress of the campaign on our  Love our Huts FB group or Instagram, where you can show off your love for the huts and share it with others. Keep an eye out for our Newsletters too, we’ll keep you posted, so together we can be sure we’re on track!

Handy downloads and links to read and share:

Mid King bivvy. Photo: Neville Palmer