Distance: 9.3 km (4.5 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 738m to 920m. Gain: 12m. Loss: 182m . Gradient: 1 deg (Flat)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)

Unmarked route, clear (7/9)
Unmarked route, follows obvious geography (river, spur, trail, etc)

Primary, unmapped (2/5)
Route not on maps, but is principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Flat (difficulty: 1/5)
Flat

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

Streams (difficulty: 2/6)
Small streams, danger only in extreme weather

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

Follow the gravel / grassy Lawrence River flats downriver, picking up a 4WD track after a while just before the private Hermitage Hut.

Lawrence Hut can be hard to find – it is incorrectly shown on old 260 series maps, and lies on the north side of the next tongue of beech north of the marked location (correct location shown by the blue marker on this site). The hut is at the back of a grassy terrace on the west of the river, and cannot be seen from the riverbed / track. When you find it, it is a pleasant 6-bunk forestry service hut, with pioneer stove (so no good for cooking), tank water and toilet.

River crossings are generally ankle to knee deep in normal flows, and the riverbed is frequently dry lower down.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From Lawrence Hut, drop to the riverbed and follow the 4WD track upriver. Ignore the turnoff the the private Hermitage Hut and continue up the riverbed. Gravel is finally replaced by tussock flats. The valley leading to spectacular falls at Hells Gate is passed on your left, and shortlay afterwards Lawrence Biv can be found 100m from the river on the northern bank. Water is a trickle in a hard-to-find channel 50m east of the biv.

River crossings are generally ankle to knee deep in normal flows, and the riverbed is frequently dry lower down.