Welcome Flat Hut is located in the Copland Valley on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. It is accessed by the Copland Track or, for some intrepid mountaineers, by travelling across the Sierra Range from Aoraki Mount Cook village. Welcome Flat Hut is fairly popular with trampers due to the hut’s proximity to a set of natural hot pools – a perfect way to rest those tired hiking legs.
I visited Welcome Flat Hut on a weekend solo trip in June 2019, and thought it was a fairly low-effort but high reward journey. This was certainly one of my top 3 hut experiences (so far) in New Zealand, and although I wasn’t aware of it before I visited, I am very glad I found out about it.
On that note, here is some beta for you to use while planning your hike to Welcome Flat Hut.
Trail Stats
Distance: 18 km (one way)
Elevation: 711 m
Route Type: Out-and-back
Difficulty: Moderate
Hiking season: Year-round, but I would recommend late fall or early spring. The sandflies can be brutal on the West Coast during the summer, and there can be ice and snow in this valley in the winter.
Planning Resources
- The Department of Conservation (affectionately called DoC) website has lots of useful information and topographic maps to help you plan your trip
Preparing for the Trip
Itinerary
This trip was a quick turn-around for me, as I just had the Saturday and Sunday off of work. I opted to hike in on the Saturday morning, stay one night at the hut, and then hike back out on Sunday morning.
If I could have stayed a second night at the hut, I 100% would have. If you do this, you could do a day trip out to Douglas Rock Hut on your second day, and enjoy another evening hot spring soak.
Transportation to Trailhead
I parked my vehicle at the carpark just off of SH6, which is a 20 minute drive south of Fox Glacier.
Sleeping Options
Welcome Flat Hut costs $20 for an adult for one night. There is also a campsite at the hut, which is $10 for an adult for one night. You need to book both the hut and the campsite ahead of time. Check the DoC website for more details.
There are two other huts on the Copland Valley Track – Architect Flat Hut, which is about halfway between the carpark and Welcome Flat Hut, and Douglas Rock Hut, which is about 2-3 hours past Welcome Flat Hut.
I used my Backcountry Hut Pass and stayed in the hut on this trip. You can use your hut pass to book your spot ahead of time.
On the Trail
Day 1: Copland Valley Trailhead to Welcome Flat Hut
I arrived at the trailhead bright and early after having slept in my car during a raging thunder and lightning storm. Needless to say, I desperately needed my coffee that cloudy morning. It was lightly raining when I locked up my car and set off down the trail.
A few hundred metres from the start of the trail is Rough Creek. I took off my boots and crossed the creek barefoot, as the water was only up to my knees. There is an emergency flood route that you can take to cross the creek if it is too high, but it takes you back up Rough Creek quite a ways, adding about 1.5 hours to your trip.
Once my shoes were back on, I began to walk through the forest. The trail is fairly undulating at the start and you do not feel like you are gaining much altitude as you walk up the valley alongside the Karangarua River. The trail continues to weave through the forest, occasionally diving down across the riverbed rocks and crossing grassy meadows intersperced with evergreens.
It was cold enough outside that the mist from the river was settling and forming a fine film of ice on the smooth riverbed. I stayed very focused on where I put my feet on these sections of the trail to avoid slipping.
After a couple of hours, and surprisingly having not run into a single other person on the trail, I arrived at Architect Creek Hut. This hut is approximately halfway between the carpark and my destination, so I stopped here for lunch. The day had started quite overcast but was starting to clear, and it was only now that I was able to see the scale of the mountain ranges on either side of the valley.
I continued onwards as the trail began to climb uphill, crossing a few active landslide areas, which I moved through quickly. It felt like the climb would never end when finally, the trail flattened out, and the hut came into view in front of me.
There were only two other groups at the hut when I arrived – a young Korean couple who were studying English in Christchurch, and the two hut wardens. The wardens were an older Kiwi couple. They told me that they had been volunteering as hut wardens at Welcome Flat hut for several weeks every year for the past 25 years!
After a quick chat, I dropped my bag off in one of the bunkrooms and pulled on my swimsuit, as it was certainly time to sample the hot springs!
I wandered down the trail a few hundred metres further and slowly submerged myself in the simmering pools, which were completely empty.
I sat here as long as I possibly could, drinking several liters of water to stay hydrated, before I went back to the hut. I made myself a bowl of ramen, chatted with the couple from Korea, and helped to get a fire going in the kitchen.
Surprisingly, no other groups showed up at the hut that night, so I pulled my sleeping mat out of the bunkroom to sleep right in front of the warm fireplace. After struggling through a few pages of my book, I quickly fell asleep, cozy as could be.
Day 2: Welcome Flat Hut to Copland Valley Trailhead
For whatever reason, two separate groups arrived at the hut in the middle of the night! Naturally, given my sleeping position in the middle of the main hut area, they woke me up. Eventually the couple I had been talking to the previous night woke up around 4:30 am, and came downstairs to make breakfast. Apparently sleep was not in the cards that night.
Although it was still pitch black, I had a long drive back to Christchurch that evening, and figured that if I was already up, I might as well get back on the trail. I quickly packed up my things, had a warm breakfast, and headed back the way I had come the day before around 6 am.
As I wandered through the woods with my headlamp, a chill went down my neck as I thought about all the wildlife that could possibly be in the woods to cause me harm. Back in Canada, I would have been concerned about bears, wolves, or cougars, and thoughts of surprising those creatures on the trail in the dark took me on a bit of a spiral.
It took me a few moments to realize that in New Zealand, the most dangerous wild animal that I was likely to come across in these woods was a possum or a large flightless bird. I chuckled to myself on the trail and continued onwards, feeling much safer than I had before.
The sun began to poke its head above the Southern Alps as I walked back out of the valley. I made good time, and by the time I had taken my boots off and crossed Rough Creek, it was only 11 am!
I took off my damp hiking gear and put on some warm sweatpants that I had left in the car for the long drive home. Before I left, I looked back out at the Sierra Range and the Copland Valley behind me. I would definitely be back here someday.
Summary
The trip to Welcome Flat Hut was one of my favourite memories from my time in New Zealand, and I would definitely recommend it in the late fall, winter, or early spring. From what I have heard from others, the sandflies in this valley can be absolutely brutal at other times.
I got very lucky and got to experience this hike in relative solitude, but generally this can be quite busy, so it may be worth timing your visit for mid-week if possible.
If I had a chance to do this walk again, I would have stayed at Welcome Flat Hut for two nights instead of just one, so that I could explore the valley past the hut a little bit more, and get a second night soaking in those magnificent hot pools. I guess that will have to wait for my next visit to New Zealand!
Overall, this was one of my top three hut experiences (so far) in New Zealand! Check out the other huts in my top three here and here.
Have you been to Welcome Flat Hut? What was your experience like?
