Distance: 1.7 km (1.0 DOC hours) - Tramping track - Easy terrain
Altitude: 885m to 1077m. Gain: 131m. Loss: 237m . Gradient: 13 deg (Moderate)
Skills: Winter - Snow/ice underfoot (2/7)

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 (difficulty: 1/5)
Grass / prepared surface

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

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

Snow/ice underfoot (difficulty: 2/7)
Snow/ice likely on track

Two saddles separate Richards Knob from Waiopehu. A well cut track through the leatherleaf descends 100m to the first before climbing to the memorial at Twin Peak. A second, longer descent follows, before another climb to Richards. The whole route is cut - a canyon through the leatherleaf.

A signpost at Richards marks tracks to Poads Road and Te Matawai Hut.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

Two saddles separate Richards Knob from Waiopehu. A well cut track through the leatherleaf descends 100m to the first before a long climb to the memorial at Twin Peak. A second, sharper descent follows, before another climb to Waiopehu summit. The whole route is cut - a canyon through the leatherleaf.

An unmarked junction exists on Waiopehu, with an unmarked route running south along the Oriwa Range, and the cut track descending north to Waiopehu Hut.