Tramping track (4/9)
Cut, marked tramping track: natural, rough ground surface

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

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

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

The signpost at the Mangahao junction say 30 minutes to Te Matawai, but you could crawl it in that!

A good track heads west from the junction, soon entering mature bush and shelter from the elements. After a boggy saddle, the track starts to climb gently, and soon Te Matawai Hut appears beside the track.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

Dropping gently east through bush the track reaches a boggy saddle, and the starts to climb gently. Leaving the bush out onto a scrubby broad ridgeline, the junction with the Mangahao track is soon reached. A signpost marks the junction.