Distance: 7.8 km (3.0 DOC hours) - Unmarked route, clear - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 642m to 917m. Gain: 350m. Loss: 197m . Gradient: 4 deg (Gentle)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)

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

Primary, mapped (1/5)
Formal route, on maps, principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Gentle (difficulty: 2/5)
Gentle slopes

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

Above Elliot Biv, willows end and a good ground trail heads up the main Elliot valley. After the 1st fork the track is predominantly on the northern bank. Take care to swing left at each of the three major forks until you pick up an old 4WD track climbing to the low saddle due east of Lake McRae. Drop to the lakeshore and follow the northern lakeshore to the north-western end of the lake. Push though a narrow band of rosebriar on cattle tracks and pick up the old 4WD track as it emerges from the scrub. Follow it as it sweeps down to the valley floor below, where Lake McRae Hut lies 1km beyond the lake, tucked against the riverside willows.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

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