Distance: 5.5 km (3.0 DOC hours) - Tramping track - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 194m to 976m. Gain: 52m. Loss: 834m . Gradient: 9 deg (Moderate)
Skills:

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

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

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

A well cut, marked track runs north down Gable End from Richards Knob. Cut through the scrub as far as Gable end, then descending in a series of sharp steps though bush to reach the Ohau River track at a signposted junction just upriver of the Blackwater bridge. A long walk.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From the signposted track junction on the eastern side of the Blackwater Stream bridge, the Gable End track climbs south in a series of steep steps. The track is well marked and well cut through mature bush until it climbs to Gable End and enters the scrub layer. The track remains well cut through the scrub as it meanders south to its summit at Richards Knob. A signpost on the summit marks the junction of tracks to Te Matawai Hut and Waiopehu Hut. An easy, but long and somewhat uninteresting walk.