Big Hut, Rock and Pillar Ranges
Komoot | DoC website | 10km/5 hour return
Big Hut is accessed from Middlemarch and is around a 50 minute drive from the city. I did this as a day trip in August, heading up when there was still snow in the hills, but this would be a lovely but chilly overnighter!
It's a steep slog up to Big Hut, getting around 1000m of elevation in just 5km. However, the views are wonderful, the hut is cute, and the track is relatively well formed.
I tied this in with parking on the rail trail and cycling around 10km to the trail head, to give me optionality of heading down the ridge line and walking back to the car, but due to fading light ended up coming out backtracking.
