Distance: 4.7 km (2.5 DOC hours) - Tramping track - Moderate-hard terrain
Altitude: 221m to 1254m. Gain: 1058m. Loss: 25m . Gradient: 13 deg (Moderate-hard)
Skills: - Streams (2/6)

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-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Continuous moderate climbs

Moderate-hard (difficulty: 4/5)
Tall, walkable scrub / large rocks, occasional waterfalls or gorges in rivers

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

No description

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From the signed junction at McIntosh descend down the wide and pleasant Pakihore Ridge for around 10 minutes to reach the bushline marked with a large orange triangle.

Enter into beautiful goblin forest for 15-20 minutes before starting to lose altitude. Pay attention to the orange triangles as it is a relatively little used track and overgrown in places. It is one of the more beautiful ridge walks in the Tararuas though, descending through a range of different bush environments.

The track gets steeper and can be tough on the knees. Orange triangles can be tricky to find near the bottom before emerging near to Penn Creek. Typically this is easy to cross, to reach the lovely 1966 Penn Creek Hut on the other side.