Making a Paparoa Track Booking
Once upon a time, there were 9 Great Walks of New Zealand, 9 fantastic, multi-day tramps (or ‘hikes’) in some of the most scenic spots of the country, who had earned their status due to the variety of top-notch landscapes dished up to trampers who signed up to traverse their terrain. But there was something missing.
And it was the Paparoa Track.
Introducing, the newest, and the tenth Great Walk of New Zealand!
Demand for spots on this track was high when it was first opened, on account of it being new, so when a friend had a cancellation in her group, I was delighted to be given a second-chance to go (I’d originally said no). I walked the Paparoa Track in April 2022, and despite being in a notoriously wet part of the country, we had fine weather for two of the three days, which made all of the difference to my experience. It really was so special to see the best of the West Coast with clear skies!
Consider yourself very fortunate if this turns out to be your experience too. I only say that to prepare you that if you’re going to be doing a Great Walk in the rain .. this is probably the one.
What Do I Need To Know About The Paparoa Track?
The Paparoa Track is a multi-day tramp (or ‘hike’ if you’re not from around here) and is situated in the Paparoa National Park on the West Coast of the South Island. It will lead you across the Paparoa Range, through the Pororari River Gorge and through twists and turns of limestone rock, all the way out to the settlement of Punakaiki on the coast, famous for its pancake-stack shaped rocks.
It’s a 55 kilometre (or 34 mile) walk and most people do it over three days. This one’s really special because the trail is a bike track, too! Which means if biking is more your thing, you could totally go along for the ride and still add it to your completed Great Walks! It can’t be an e-bike though, only regular bikes are allowed on the trail.
As to it’s history: the Paparoa Track was created in memory of 29 miners who died in the Pike River mining tragedy in 2010. It was opened in 2020, ten years after the incident, and it includes a side trip up the Pike29 Memorial Track to the mine, so that visitors can learn about the explosion that took place there. This smaller track actually only opened in February 2024, so quite a new inclusion, although it was always part of the plans.
The Paparoa Track is not a loop, but a point-to-point track and can be walked in either direction from Blackball, which is an old mining town half an hour out of Greymouth, to Punakaiki, a coastal village which draws visitors in search of the Pancake Rocks. It can be done in either direction but the recommended way is from Blackball, going north to Punakaiki.
Booking Your Huts
The Paparoa Track is not like other Great Walks, where you have the choice of staying in a hut or in a tent. The Paparoa Track has no campsites and so you will definitely be staying in huts if you go. If you choose to bike the track, you can get away with just staying overnight (or even cycle the whole thing in a day!), and if you’re walking, you would be most likely to pick two of the three available Department of Conservation huts to stay in.
Department of Conservation Huts
The three Department of Conservation huts on the Paparoa Track are (in the direction of Blackball, north up to Punakaiki) Ces Clark Hut, followed by Moonlight Tops Hut (where we spent our first night of two), and then Pororari Hut (where spent our second, our final night). This is how it is recommended to do it, as the walking distance between Ces Clark Hut and Pororari Hut is too great (29 kilometres, or 18 miles) and would be too long of a day.
The huts accommodate between 16 and 20 people, so are on the smaller side for huts on Great Walks. It’s always great to chat to others you are sharing the hut with as you find the most interesting people and often make friends from other countries!
Tell Me About The Cooking Facilities
The huts on the Paparoa Track have gas hobs that you can cook on, so that saves you bringing a camping cooker along. There is running cold water that is easy to boil on the stove. Although the official Department of Conservation advice is to boil all water before drinking, I still remember a time when this signage was not in place and I drink the water straight on most tramping tracks.
Tell Me About The Sleeping Arrangements
Standard fare on Great Walks is a shared bunk room with a plastic mattress, so pack ear plugs if you are a light sleeper. Sometimes people need to get things out of their packs later than you want to go to sleep, and it’s all about just sharing the spaces with courtesy and grace.
Tell Me About The Toilets
Toilets on the Paparoa Track are not flushing toilets, but long drops. Being a Great Walk, they are maintained to a better standard than some of the backcountry trails. Toilet paper is kept stocked up by the Department of Conservation, but I always pack a toilet roll in case, as you never know.
Step One: Making a Great Walks Booking Account
It’s not complicated to book a spot on a Great Walk of New Zealand, but before you can do so, you need to ensure you have an account with the Department of Conservation Booking Service.
Ideally you would make this account before the day that bookings for the Paparoa Track open (which is announced in advance each year) so that this part is sorted and you can book the track as quickly as possible, just in case it fills up.
The link to the Department of Conservation Booking Service is https://bookings.doc.govt.nz/. You just need to create a password and use your email to sign up. There’s just the one booking system for all Department of Conservation trails, and if you’ve booked a Great Walk before, you’ll already have an account.
Step Two: Booking through your Great Walks Booking Account
Each year in late May, the Department of Conservation opens bookings for the Great Walks. Once this date has been announced (bookings are already open for the 2024/2025 season), you can book your spot on the track. Typically that’s at 09:30am in the morning, but check that is true for the year that you are reading this.
Unlike some of the other Great Walks, especially those in more alpine conditions, you can walk the Paparoa Track at any time of year. It’s likely to be more popular over the summer, as it’s already a wet area of New Zealand anyway, but there are no in-season dates that you must fit your walk into. Just go when it suits.
Plans you’ll want to have in place before you go to book will be to:
Know Your Party
Work out who you are going to be walking with! There’s an extra consideration for the Paparoa Track: is your group a walking group or a cycling group? Do some want to do one but not the other?
It is totally possible, if your bikers don’t mind waiting at the huts each night for the walkers to catch up! Alternatively, the bikers in your group could do the return trip as well, and move your vehicle so it is ready and waiting for you at the end of the tramp. Just a thought.
For booking, you’ll just need full names and ages for the members in your group – and their money, if one person is paying and needs that to be transferred over first.
Know Your Dates
I would recommend having it on a piece of paper in front of you whether you are walking from Blackball north to Punakaiki or from Punakaiki south to Blackball (or cycling). Are you walking over three days, or will you stretch it over four? Will you cycle it in two days, or squeeze it into one? (If so, you won’t even need a booking, but it’d be a big day).
Run Your Search
On the day that bookings open (and it’s normally at 09:30am), be logged in and ready to go, refreshing the browser when the clock rolls over. From this point everyone is competing for a spot. The Paparoa Track is not probably ever going to book out as quickly as the Milford Track, for example, but because it’s new, I would still expect demand for those spaces to still be quite high.
When you load the page, you’ll be presented with a search engine. Select Paparoa Track, use the calendar to enter your dates, pick how many nights you want on the track (nights, not days), and how many people you’re going with. Then, click Search.
Select Your Dates
The page will load with a grid of dates and huts you can stay at. You’ll need to pick the squares that correspond with your chosen dates and huts. If they are red with an exclamation mark, they are not yet booked out, but they are close. Hopefully they will be green with lots of space for you to book them!
Click Reserve when you are done and it will take you to the next page and hold your booking while you fill out the other details.
Make Your Payment
Although the Paparoa Track can be walked all year round, there is still a difference in hut fees between peak season (October, November, December, January, February, March and April), and off-season (May, June, July, August and September). In-season, there is a different rate for New Zealanders and international visitors. It’s just to incentivise us kiwis to get out there and explore our own backyard. There’s also a different rate between the huts, which is unusual on a Great Walk, when they are normally all standardised.
So Ces Clark Hut, which is the first you’ll pass walking north from Blackball to Punakaiki, (and where it’s not recommended you stay if you’re doing three days, due to the distance between there and Pororari Hut being too long of a day), will cost a New Zealander $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸) for a night.
An international visitor will pay $72NZD 🇳🇿 ($45USD 🇺🇸) for a night.
In the colder, off-season months, everyone will pay the New Zealander rate of $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸) each night (.. I wonder if this is a typo from the Department of Conservation site, that it’s the same as the peak season price?). What it means, is that if you’re a New Zealander and are going to stay here, it will cost you the same to go in peak-season!
Moonlight Tops Hut, which is in the middle of the track, and where we spent our first night after a big first day, will cost a New Zealander $74NZD 🇳🇿 ($46USD 🇺🇸) for a night.
An international visitor will pay $111NZD 🇳🇿 ($69USD 🇺🇸) for a night.
In the colder, off-season months, you’ll pay either $58NZD 🇳🇿 ($36USD 🇺🇸) for a night, if it’s May, June or September, regardless of where you are from, and it’s even less if you go in the thick of winter, in July or August, which is $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸), regardless of where you are from.
Then, lastly, you have Pororari Hut, which is closest to the northern end of the Paparoa Track the Punakaiki end. It’s fees fall in the middle of the other two. A New Zealander will pay $58NZD 🇳🇿 ($36USD 🇺🇸) for a night and an international visitor will pay $88NZD ($54USD 🇺🇸) for a night.
Off-season, everyone will pay $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸) for a night, no matter the month, and regardless of where you’re from.
So only Moonlight Tops Hut differentiates between shoulder months and winter months in terms of price.
Tips And Tricks
1️⃣ I would recommend having a couple of people in your group trying to book for half the group each, if your group is particularly large, as you are more likely to have success for at least half of you. Then, if you miss out on some spaces but you have others secured, the ones in your group who want to go the most can still go. Disregard this if it’s really important to your group to all go together!
2️⃣ My second tip would be to pick an autumn date (March or April) over a spring date (October or November) as autumn weather tends to be more stable, and might give you a better chance of fine weather. But summer is probably the best time to go.
3️⃣ My third tip would be, that if you find you’ve missed the huts or the dates you need, or there’s one space in just one of the huts, give cycling a go! There are lots of outfitters in the area that you can hire from and this way you’ll only need one hut booking, as it’s quite doable over two days. You might really love it!
Cancellations and Refunds
It’s a shame when something crops up, but sometimes it does. If you need to find out about whether you’re eligible for a cancellation or refund, you can contact the Department of Conservation by email or by phone. This page of theirs goes into detail about cancellations and refunds.
Booking Your Transport
Assuming you’ve booked your spot on the track, that’s very exciting! Now, because it’s a point to point track, you’ll just have to work out how you’re going to do transport in and out of the Paparoa Track. We did a vehicle relocate, so our vehicle was ready and waiting for us at the other end of the track, but if you don’t have a vehicle, don’t worry, there are shuttle options, too.
Getting In/Out of Punakaiki
The northern end of the Paparoa Track is at Punakaiki. You leave the track, emerging at the Pororari river mouth, and find yourself literally across the highway from Punakaiki Beach Camp, which is the edge of the village, and only a kilometre (0.6 miles) from the famous Pancake Rocks at the other end of the village, so everything is really close and you won’t need to shuttle anywhere straightaway if you are spending the night in Punakaiki.
We were determined to have a hot shower, a meal at the pub, and thought pancakes were an appropriate breakfast the next morning, before viewing the Pancake Rocks!
From Punakaiki village, the choice is yours as to whether you are going to go south (down the West Coast), north (to Westport, Cape Foulwind, the seal colony and beyond), or go south a little ways back to Greymouth (40 minute drive, or 46 kilometres – 29 miles) before heading inland via either Lewis Pass or Arthur’s Pass.
Getting In/Out of Blackball
The southern end of the Paparoa Track is the Smoke-ho carpark. It’s a little bit out of the tiny town of Blackball (6 kilometres, or 3.7 miles, to be exact), so it’d only take you fifteen minutes to drive it, but an hour and a half to walk it. And Blackball is just a little way out of Greymouth, the largest town on the West Coast, a half an hour drive away (which is 25 kilometres, or 16 miles). There is accommodation in Blackball, but a lot of people would come and go from Greymouth instead as it has more in the way of food and lodgings.
Getting In/Out of Greymouth
Greymouth is also where you’ll pop out on the West Coast after driving either the Lewis Pass or Arthur’s Pass routes, which are State Highways 7 and 73 respectively. Greymouth is accessible from the north, (which makes sense if you’re coming from the Tasman Region, Nelson itself, Westport, the Heaphy Track, or the Abel Tasman Coastal Track). It also makes sense if you’re taking the Interislander car and passenger ferry from Wellington in the North Island across to Picton in the South Island.
You can also access Greymouth from the south, on State Highway 6, (if you’re coming from the likes of Hokitika, Haast, the glaciers, or Wānaka). The highway runs all the way up the coast, but it’s a six hour drive from Wānaka up to Greymouth. If you were doing that, you’d definitely be stopping for the glaciers (Franz Josef Glacier or Fox Glacier), stopping for the strikingly turquoise-blue rivers (Haast’s Blue Pools, or Hokitika Gorge), and stopping for some incredible waterfalls (like Trident Creek Falls, and the Gates of Haast). It’s an excellent road trip, but not to be crammed into a day!
Operators
👉🏻 One operator you can go through for your transport is Paparoa Shuttles. They offer vehicle relocates that cost $189NZD 🇳🇿 ($117USD 🇺🇸), or $339NZD 🇳🇿 ($209USD 🇺🇸) for it to be in locked storage while you are on the track.
And they offer shuttle transport, too. They can get you from Greymouth and take you out to the town of Blackball for $24NZD 🇳🇿 ($15USD 🇺🇸). To get to the actual trailhead, another 6 kilometres (or 3.7 miles) out from Blackball, which is the Smoke-ho Carpark, it’s a tiny bit more at $35NZD 🇳🇿 ($22USD 🇺🇸). If you’re in Greymouth but actually wanting to go out to the northern end of the track, at Punakaiki, it’s $58NZD 🇳🇿 ($36USD 🇺🇸).
Add on $15NZD 🇳🇿 ($9USD 🇺🇸) to the above prices for your bike’s transport.
👉🏻 The Paparoa Great Walk website, operated by the Punakaiki Beach Camp, has transport options on it too. This page is for information about their vehicle relocates. They charge $196NZD 🇳🇿 ($121USD 🇺🇸) for a vehicle relocate, but they offer secure parking in Blackball, whereas other organisations will get your car from open carparks, so there is a little bit more risk of petty crime.
When you exit the trail at Punakaiki, you only need cross the road to get to the Punakaiki Beach Camp, so that part is really easy, and you’re nice and close to a hot shower at that point, something we really appreciated; we looked like drowned rats when we finished!
👉🏻 Cycle Journeys offer shuttles for the Paparoa Track, too, but they do this in conjunction with Paparoa Shuttles, listed above. They also offer vehicle relocation from one end of the track to the other for $189NZD 🇳🇿($117USD 🇺🇸).
👉🏻 Trail Transport can take you from Greymouth to the Smoke-ho Carpark at the Blackball (southern) trailhead for $140NZD 🇳🇿($86USD 🇺🇸). This gets down to $60NZD 🇳🇿 ($37USD 🇺🇸) if you’re going with others.
If you’re going from Greymouth all the way up to the northern end of the track at Punakaiki, you’ll be charged $180NZD 🇳🇿 ($111USD 🇺🇸), which you can get down to $70NZD 🇳🇿 ($43USD 🇺🇸) if you’re going with others.
And if you’ve left a vehicle at the southern end, the Smoke-ho Carpark trailhead just out of Blackball, then for $240NZD 🇳🇿 ($148USD 🇺🇸) they’ll take you all the way back to the start for you to collect your car. You can get that down to $85NZD 🇳🇿 ($53USD 🇺🇸) if you’re going with others.
👉🏻 Trek Express do transport from Nelson. That’s quite a way away – three and a half hour’s drive to either end of the Paparoa Track (259 kilometres, or 161 miles) but if you find yourself in Nelson and want an easy option to get out to the West Coast, here it is.
They charge $150NZD 🇳🇿 ($93USD 🇺🇸). The benefit of this route is that you might be needing to fly into the South Island, and Nelson Airport is a great gateway. (The other option is to fly into Christchurch Airport or Hokitika Airport.) These guys can sell you a gas canister to cook with (as you can’t fly with those) which saves you a last minute errand into a camping store to buy one (which we have definitely done!)
👉🏻 Go Tracks West Coast have the Paparoa Track listed on this page but don’t have their prices showing for shuttle transport for the walk.
👉🏻 Scrambled Legs have the Paparoa Track listed amongst the drop down options on their prices page. They charge $120NZD 🇳🇿 ($70USD 🇺🇸) for one way transfers to either end of the track.
✈️ Air Transport
As mentioned, flights might be something you need to think about if you are doing the Paparoa Track and coming from another part of New Zealand. You can access the West Coast from the south, the north, or the east.
One option is to fly into Nelson Airport (NSN) in the north and traverse your way down, cutting off the top left hand corner of the South Island as you do so.
We also actually have a tiny airport in Hokitika (HKK) on the West Coast, so if you’d like to fly in there, you’ll only be a half hour drive away from Greymouth (37 kilometres, or 23 miles).
Another option is to fly into Christchurch Airport (CHC) on the east coast of the South Island and cross the island via the mountain passes that intersect the Southern Alps, (that’s our mountain range that runs down the middle of the South Island.) It’s a very pretty drive; we did this – we started in Christchurch and traversed across to the west. It’s only a three hour drive to Greymouth (242 kilometres, or 150 miles), and this was the easiest option for us because my tramping buddy actually lived in Christchurch then, so we took her car.
This route is spectacular, so much so that it is also where they’ve put the TranzAlpine Scenic Railway Line, which is five hour scenic train ride right through the mountains that leaves from Christchurch and emerges at Greymouth on the West Coast. A ticket costs $239NZD 🇳🇿 ($148USD 🇺🇸) but it’s a real adventure, especially at the end of the year when there’s still snow around from our winter months (June to August).
Lewis Pass is another route across the South Island, to the north, but it’s an extra hour, and an extra hundred kilometres, compared to taking the route through Arthur’s Pass straight across.
You can sort out shuttle transport to the track from the tiny town of Blackball, the bigger town of Greymouth (the biggest on the West Coast, actually), or the village of Punakaiki, so just get yourself to one of those and you’re good to go.
Is There A Guided Walk Option?
Yes! There are options for you!
👉🏻 If you choose Paparoa Guided Walks, you’ll pay $1799NZD 🇳🇿 ($1111USD 🇺🇸) and that will cover you for a four day three night walk, staying in each of the three Department of Conservation huts. It’ll include your transport, your meals, some gear, and your guide.
👉🏻 Another option is to go with New Zealand Walks, who also do a four day three night walk. For $1999NZD 🇳🇿 ($1234USD 🇺🇸) you’ll get your transport, your nights in the three Department of Conservation huts, a guide, a backpack, and all your meals.
👉🏻 A third choice is to use Active Aotearoa. They will book you for the walk over three days and two nights for $260NZD 🇳🇿 ($161USD 🇺🇸), so you’ll get your bookings for your two Department of Conservation huts and your transport sorted through them. Once you’ve done your calculations you might find this ends up being not too bad of a price for what you are going to pay, regardless. However, I believe it’s just a booking service, not a guide who will actually accompany you.
What Will It Cost Me?
Depending on whether you are cycling the track over one day (free!), over two days, or walking, whether that’s over three or over four days, (and depending on your direction, as the huts differ in price), a New Zealander will be spending between $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸) on one hut, out-of-season, and $180NZD 🇳🇿 ($112USD 🇺🇸) on three huts, in-season.
An international visitor will be spending between $48NZD 🇳🇿 ($30USD 🇺🇸), on one hut, out-of-season, and $271NZD 🇳🇿 ($167USD 🇺🇸) on three huts, in-season.
If you’re choosing to have your vehicle relocated from one end of the track to the other, you’ll be paying between $189NZD 🇳🇿 ($117USD 🇺🇸) and $339NZD 🇳🇿 ($209USD 🇺🇸), depending on who you go with.
If you’re using a shuttle service you will be paying somewhere between $93NZD 🇳🇿 ($57USD 🇺🇸) and $320NZD 🇳🇿 ($198USD 🇺🇸) depending on who you go with and what combination of shuttles you choose. It can work out cheaper to do a vehicle relocate if you have more than a couple of you to split the cost with!
Factor in your food, any supplies you’ll need, petrol if you’re driving, and potentially any flights needed to get into Christchurch or Nelson. You’ll also need to consider bike hire costs if you are cycling and do not have your own bike.
You’ll find the Paparoa Track will cost you anywhere between $200NZD 🇳🇿 ($124USD 🇺🇸) and $1999NZD 🇳🇿 ($1234USD 🇺🇸).
Great Walks can add up by the time you have factored in all your bookings, but they are once in a lifetime opportunities and really great experiences. The Paparoa Track shows you some spectacular New Zealand scenery but also pays homage to our 29 miners whom we lost. If the West Coast is already part of your New Zealand itinerary, I’d really recommend detouring off the highway for a couple of days in the West Coast wilderness.
