A loop of the Ngamoko Tops is an all-seasons option with bush-clad ridges, sensational views and convivial river valley walking. There’s a good chance you’ll spot a kārearea or whio, too. 

Culinary Advisor and I enjoyed an easy stroll from the carpark down a wide farm track to a coat hanger bridge over Umutoi Creek. From there, we crossed into Ruahine Forest Park. After another 20 minutes we arrived at Tunupō Track junction.

Tunupō Track ascends a long spur through beautiful bush with a pattern of ‘climb… taper off, climb… taper off’. It emerges into the alpine zone – about 6km from the carpark – and picks its way through leatherwoods and tussock, unmarked but easy to follow. The final push to Tunupō (1568m) includes some scrambling over bluffs high above Umutoi Creek but the track veers from dangerous slopes. 

Tunupō is the highest point of the Ngamoko Range and apex of the trip. We lapped up the 360-degree views – from the snows of Ruapehu in the north to Kāpiti in the south, from the parched Heretaunga plain in the east and fertile Manawatū hill country out west. It was a golden day, and a beautiful spot for lunch, if prone to a breeze. A karearea circling below added to the magic.

From Tunupō, a ridge south traces towards Toka. Originally we wanted to go that way but with winds forecast to strengthen we reviewed our plan to aim for Top Gorge Hut. Our route northeast was unmarked but obvious over the Ngamoko Tops – broad, flat, and easy as a sports field.

One hour later saw us on Pt 1505, where there’s a sign to Top Gorge Hut. From here it’s a two-hour, 600m descent to the hut – a refuge from the exposed tops – and the track is in good condition, save a last-minute tumble into the gorge before splashing through the Pohangina. It’s a cold hut, though – Culinary Advisor and I arrived well before 5pm and could already see our breath inside.

If you’re disinclined to visit Top Gorge Hut, continue along the ridge for 30 minutes to the junction with Iron Gate Track. Turn left and descend the spur, allowing three hours to get to the hut.

The spur down Iron Gate offers superb views north to the smooth Whanahuia Range and the craggier peak of Te Hekenga. After an hour you reach the bush line. As the forest returns, a higher layer of cedar and leatherwood contrasts with the montane beech forest. It’s another 90 minutes of easy tramping through established silver beech, the leaves forming a gentle carpet on the surprisingly wide track, until a gnarly 300m drop to the Oroua River.

Iron Gate Hut appears almost as soon as you’re on the river terrace. Rebuilt in 2019, the hut occupies a charming position above the river’s turquoise pools, with a small waterfall opposite. There are beautiful campsites in the beech forest adjacent. Whio are often seen in these parts, thanks to the Ruahine Whio Protectors. This beautiful 10-bunk hut is popular – my Culinary Advisor arrived just before 3pm and were already relegated to the deck.

The road end is about four hours away along a mostly-friendly sidle track. The track passes through a majestic stand of matai and rimu before Tunupō Creek, the first of two creeks to ford. After the zig-zags out of Cumberfield Creek the track becomes much easier, enabling quick walking to Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Lodge. From the lodge, it’s an easy uphill for five minutes to Tunupō Track junction to complete the loop, then 30 minutes back to the road end. Just remember to look for whio whenever you glimpse of the river!

This circuit can be completed in either direction with a night in Iron Gate Hut. A two-night trip is more relaxed, with an additional night in Top Gorge Hut or camping on the tops.

Need to know

Access: Drive to Petersons Road end car park (1 hour 10 mins from Palmerston North)

Grade: Moderate-difficult

Time: Petersons Road end to Tunupō summit, 4hr; Tunupō to Top Gorge turnoff, 1hr; Top Gorge turnoff to Iron Gate Hut track junction, 30 mins; Iron Gate Track to Iron Gate Hut, 3-4hrs; Iron Gate Hut to road end, 3-4hrs. Top Gorge Hut is 2hrs each way from Pt 1505m.

Distance: Petersons Road end to Top Gorge turnoff (10.7km); Top Gorge turnoff to Iron Gate Hut (7.5 km); Iron Gate Hut to road end (9.4km). Total distance: 27.6km. Top Gorge Hut is 2.5km from Pt 1505m.

Total ascent: 1,511m. The ascent out of Top Gorge Hut to Pt 1505m is 590m. 

Accommodation: Iron Gate Hut ($5, 10 bunks), Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Lodge ($5, 8 bunks), Top Gorge Hut (free, 4 bunks).

Map: BL 36 Norsewood