Red Hills Route 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: Dec–Mar · highs 12–14 °C (54–57 °F)
- J14°4°135
- F14°4°107
- M12°2°126
- A9°0°136
- M6°-2°137
- J3°-4°164
- J2°-5°133
- A3°-5°149
- S5°-3°156
- O7°-2°180
- N10°0°152
- D12°2°170
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
The Red Hills Route is a challenging backcountry adventure from Mid Wairoa Hut by the Wairoa River to Red Hills Hut. This track is part of Te Araroa Trail.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 40 km · 25 mi (DOC route geometry)
- Source
- NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0)
- Difficulty
- Very hard (9/10) (Advanced, Expert · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0))
- Typical time (DOC)
- 3 days one way
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/e991356df3894ee08ab91fc8803
- Mountain range
- Richmond Range (Northwest Ranges; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 21 km S of Wakefield (Tasman District) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Mount Richmond Forest Park
- Connects to
- Richmond Ranges Te Araroa route (at its start or end)
- Best months
- Dec–Mar
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- Tasman
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -41.5907, 173.0608
How it’s scored
Very hard (9/10). Official rating: Advanced, Expert · 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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distance from the trail centreTA07a Richmond Alpine Track
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