Speargrass Hut – Nelson Lakes National Park

Sunday 19 March 2023

On a fine day six trampers set off from the Mt Robert carpark along the Speargrass Track. The terrain consists of lots of tree roots amongst the beech forest needing some care with footing. The gradient was quite level for the first ten minutes before descending steadily for one hour down to Te Horowai/Speargrass Creek.

We found a good spot to stop at an oxbow in the creek which is now dry as a result of the creek changing course after recent flooding. We were beside the creek for one hour before we started climbing for the last 1¼ hours. The creek marks the western boundary of the national park and is also the line of the Alpine Fault and it seemed to be a fault line where the track followed a small gully nearing the hut.

After crossing a small bridge over Speargrass Creek we had a small climb to emerge from the bush amongst fields of tall golden tussock surrounding Speargrass Hut, taking us nearly three hours from the start. The background was the rugged range of Robert Ridge making for a great hut site with splendid views down the valley. No one was at the hut but soon several trampers arrived after descending from Angelus Hut on their way to the carpark.

We returned the same way to Mt Robert carpark then stopped off at Pauline’s bach on Robert Street in St Arnaud for some welcome refreshments, then headed back to Nelson. A good day out and magnificent weather. A total day of six hours covering 13.4km.

The trampers were Robert (scribe), Donell, Tony, Pauline, Maria and Sharen.