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Wilderness Magazine New Zealand's number one walking and tramping magazine since 1991.

🚨 LAST CALL: applications close October 15thThe Shaun Barnett Memorial Scholarship is a tribute to leading tramping auth...
13/10/2026

🚨 LAST CALL: applications close October 15th

The Shaun Barnett Memorial Scholarship is a tribute to leading tramping author and photographer Shaun Barnett.

Open to aspiring photojournalists of all ages, the annual scholarship offers up to $1000 to the successful applicant in support of their backcountry adventures and creative development. Read the story this year’s recipient wrote here: https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/the-hollyford-a-lesson-in-history-and-humility/

There is still time to apply, but don’t delay, applications close October 15th.

Apply now!

https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/apply-for-the-shaun-barnett-memorial-scholarship/

Is a smartwatch a useful hiking accessory? Let us know in the comments!Some people love smartwatches while others find t...
13/10/2026

Is a smartwatch a useful hiking accessory? Let us know in the comments!

Some people love smartwatches while others find them too intrusive.

With brands including Garmin, Coros, Suunto and Polar producing increasingly advanced (and expensive) smartwatches, there is ample content reviewing and explaining how all their features work. However, there’s a key question I think is often missed: do they improve your outdoor experience?

Writer Chris Williams breaks down the pros and cons of using a smartwatch for hiking: https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/is-a-smartwatch-a-useful-hiking-accessory/

Surrounded by montane forest, this hut feels like a sanctuary 🏡🌲🌳🌄It’s hard to believe this little two-bunker was design...
12/10/2026

Surrounded by montane forest, this hut feels like a sanctuary 🏡🌲🌳🌄

It’s hard to believe this little two-bunker was designated for removal in a 2004 DOC review – deemed too remote, too dilapidated, too little used. Only a handful of parties visited every few years. Then Andrew Buglass’s Permolat network stepped in, securing a maintain-by-community agreement and reopening the routes.

“Every hut’s got its baggage,” Andrew says, “Some just need a bit of love to make them liveable again.”

Writer Victoria Bruce, along with Andrew, take a rugged, three-day tramp into the remote Tara Tama Range to show how even the smallest shelter, if tended with love, can endure.

Read the full story via the link below, or in our November Edition, out now!

At 1687m, Te Atuaoparapara collects plenty of snow during winter, but in summer conditions the summit is rubble with a s...
10/10/2026

At 1687m, Te Atuaoparapara collects plenty of snow during winter, but in summer conditions the summit is rubble with a sparse covering of tenacious tussock and shrubs ❄🌾

It’s a rewarding day traverse, and it can also be enjoyed as an overnighter, staying at Sunrise Hut or camp nestled beside a tarn at 1580m.

Get the route details here: https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/trip/te-atuaoparapara-ruahine-forest-park/

Hut of the week 🏡This 24-bunk hut just 2-3 hours walk from the car park offers stunning views up the Caples Valley to th...
09/10/2026

Hut of the week 🏡

This 24-bunk hut just 2-3 hours walk from the car park offers stunning views up the Caples Valley to the Ailsa Range from both inside the hut and the generous front deck.

The hut opened in February 2014 replacing a 12-bunk hut on the same site. It’s well insulated with a warm woodstove. There is ample tent camping near the hut, but it must be booked in advance.

Have you visited this hut? Can you guess its name?

Here's your hint, including the route to the hut: https://tinyurl.com/52dpbkwv 😉

November 2026 🏆In each issue of Wilderness Magazine, three new Walk1200km are set to add interest and silliness to y...
09/10/2026

November 2026 🏆

In each issue of Wilderness Magazine, three new Walk1200km are set to add interest and silliness to your kilometres. Our favourite six completers receive a special badge, and the best entry for each challenge receives a prize from our partners. Here’s how to enter.

🔥 : Pose like a mountaineer

Partner prize: A pair of AKU Rapida Air shoes worth $279.99

🔥 : Eyes up

Partner prize: A $100 voucher to spend at Further Faster

🔥 : Go tracking

Partner prize: A pair of Bridgedale Midweight Merino Performance Fit socks

Get the full deets here: https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/november-2026-microchallenges/

📰 Your outdoor news of the week 📰~ Paper hut tickets being phased out, new huts added to booking systemSixty-two huts an...
08/10/2026

📰 Your outdoor news of the week 📰

~ Paper hut tickets being phased out, new huts added to booking system

Sixty-two huts and campsites now require booking online, including popular stops along Te Araroa and the St. James Walkway.

The changes mean all DOC serviced huts are now bookable, and Serviced Hut Tickets are being retired. People who already have physical Serviced Hut Tickets can contact DOC to have them applied to a booking until the ticket expires.

From 1 November, physical Backcountry Hut Tickets for non-bookable huts will need to be purchased online and printed off before heading into the backcountry. Physical Backcountry Hut Tickets will continue to be accepted until November 1, 2027, while paper tickets are phased out.

Quiz time! 🗺Where are you standing in the image above?
08/10/2026

Quiz time! 🗺

Where are you standing in the image above?

📰 New bridge cuts 32km of road walking on Te AraroaA new 120m suspension bridge across the Whangaehu River opens today,...
07/10/2026

📰 New bridge cuts 32km of road walking on Te Araroa

A new 120m suspension bridge across the Whangaehu River opens today, removing one of the longest and most exposed stretches of highway walking on Te Araroa.

The bridge replaces 32km of road walking between Whanganui, Fordell and Whangaehu, much of it alongside SH3, with a new 25km coastal walking route through the Whitiau Scientific Reserve, a nationally significant coastal dune and wetland area at the mouth of the river.

Read the full story via the link below 🔽

The Motatapu Track is a classic. Connecting Arrowtown and Wānaka, it’s both a standalone trail and a spectacular 47km se...
07/10/2026

The Motatapu Track is a classic. Connecting Arrowtown and Wānaka, it’s both a standalone trail and a spectacular 47km section of Te Araroa. It includes a grunty 3000m of vert over four peaks, the highest being 1270m Jack Halls Saddle 🥾🌞

Māori used the valley as a mahinga kai and a pounamu trading route linking Lake Wānaka and Lake Wakatipu. Later it was home to gold miners and sheep herders. Today it hosts walkers and trail runners of all flavours.

Writer Naomi Arnold highlights the history, hills and dramatic scenery of this Central Otago classic in our November Magazine, out now!

Photos by Matt Tomkins.

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