Pinnacles Hut Review – New Zealand

This was the first hut I have stayed at in New Zealand, and I am very impressed. This is complete luxury compared to what we have back in Australia. Huts are big part of hiking in New Zealand, and some are located in absolutely breathtaking places!

The Pinnacles hut has heaps of amenities (which I’ll go through shortly). It’s serviced all year round, so it’s very clean and well kept. Thinking of staying at his hut? Keep reading for my review.

Where is it?

The pinnacles hut is located along the Pinnacles hiking trail, in the Coromandel Forest Park. You can read my full guide to this hike here. It is a great option if you are wanting to split the day up, or just have a great experience in a NZ hut! 

How do I book?

It’s highly recommend to book online prior to arrival, and with plenty of time to spare for peak times. You can book online here.  One nights accommodation at the Pinnacles hut will cost you $25NZD.

If you don’t book online, you can book at the visitor centre. Depending on the warden, you might be able to book at the hut. However, I don’t recommend putting this stress on them. 

What’s there?

The Pinnacle hut is one of the best huts in the whole of New Zealand (I believe). 

It has a full camp kitchen, gas burner stoves, BBQ and pots/pans cutlery – kindly left behind by fellow hikers. The kitchen also has several kettles for boiling drinking water. There is water here from the stream, however it is not treated.

The dorms can fit up to 80 people, and come with plenty of windows, for lighting and ventilation. Mattresses are also supplied, so you don’t need to bring anything but a sleeping bag with you. 

There are basins and a cold shower – to wash the sweat off from the day. Now when I say cold, I mean cold. Outside the hut, there are also several drop loo toilets. 

The hut has plenty of sitting areas, outside, undercover and inside the kitchen. 

There is also a heater in the hut, for those cold nights – this is lit by the warden when needed. The hut also has solar powered lights in the kitchen.

The warden will be the one to sign you in and show you around – the warden I met was lovely! 

There is a lovely short walk down to a historical dam which is worth doing. It’s always nice to learn a bit of history. You can also bring a tent and camp here

My Experience

I think my experience has to be a one of a kind. To my lucky, I was actually the only member of the general public that was staying at this hut. I slipped through the system when I made my booking as this hut was booked out for 2 days for staff to do repairs. 

This meant that I had one of the 40-person dorm rooms all to myself! Honestly it was great. I made a very comfortable bed out of several mattresses and spread out. 

The cleanliness of the hut was excellent, and being able to have a shower (even if it was cold) after a long day of hiking was amazing. I also loved how there were items in the kitchen for hikers to use – as I didn’t pack any myself (whoops).

I definately recommend stopping and spending a night in this hut if you have the time!