McKinnon Hut Track other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)
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NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0) · OpenStreetMap · Official page · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).
7-day forecast
Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)Best time to hike
Best months: Sep–May · highs 11–19 °C (52–66 °F)
- J19°10°104
- F19°10°99
- M17°8°105
- A14°6°108
- M11°4°120
- J9°3°144
- J8°2°146
- A9°2°129
- S11°3°133
- O13°5°125
- N15°6°105
- D17°9°124
Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.
How we pick months
Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.
About this trail
Perched on the northern end of the Hikurangi Range in Ruahine Forest Park, McKinnon Hut is accessed via a long ridge climbing up from the Kawhatau Valley. Stay a night and return the same way.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 4.8 km · 3.0 mi (DOC route geometry)
- Source
- NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0)
- Difficulty
- Hard (7/10) (Advanced · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0))
- Typical time (DOC)
- 8 - 10 hr
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/3ae99894811649ecb21577dba32
- Mountain range
- Ruahine Range (North Island Mountain Spine; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 23 km SE of Taihape (Rangitikei District, Manawatu-Wanganui) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Ruahine Forest (West) Conservation Area
- Best months
- Sep–May
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- Manawatū-Whanganui
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -39.7637, 176.0386
How it’s scored
Hard (7/10). Official rating: Advanced · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0).
A score is omitted when we do not have an official rating or enough measured length and elevation gain to compute one. Nothing is guessed. Read the NPS method: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/how-to-determine-hiking-difficulty.htm
Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.
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Nearest trails
distance from the trail centreRangitane Road to Crow Hut Loop Track
0.3 mi · 0.5 km · Manawatū-Whanganui
Purity Hut Track
3.5 mi · 5.6 km · Manawatū-Whanganui
Mokai Road End to Otukota Hut
4.5 mi · 7.2 km · Manawatū-Whanganui
Purity - Kelly Knight Hut Loop Track
5.3 mi · 8.5 km · Manawatū-Whanganui
Purity to Kawhatau Base Track
5.3 mi · 8.5 km · Manawatū-Whanganui
Ruahine Corner to Rangitane Road
6 mi · 10 km · Ruahine Forest Park
All trails in Manawatū-Whanganui → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →