Routes
Huts / campsites
Roadends
Summits
Passes / crossings
Scenic features
Junctions
DOC Land
Altitude: 550m to 799m. Gain: 224m. Loss: 422m . Gradient: 2 deg (Flat)
Skills: - Occasional rivers (3/6)
From Evans Hut, cross Cattle Stream, which may be near-dry in mid-summer. Within about 600m of the hut, look for a large orange triangle on the hillside of talus and boulders on the TL Rakaia valley wall. Shortly downstream of here, the main braids of the Rakaia begin cutting hard against the bluffs of Duncan's Face, and the boulder field is your chance to climb out of the valley and begin a sidle route that will take you over the face. This sidle route was quite rough and overgrown in early 2026 but appeared to be an old, not-recently-maintained or no-longer-maintained tramping track. Marking this track were occasional orange triangles in the bush, orange-topped warratahs in open sections, and, interestingly, arrows chainsawed into fallen trees. Note that the sidle route does not match up with the 4WD track over Duncan's Face that appears on some topo maps.
Follow the sidle route, rising over bluffs and through scrubby bush, scree slopes, boulder-y streambeds, and other moderately rough terrain that makes for generally slow progress. At times you will walk on moderately exposed ledges directly above the river. The sidle route puts out after about 2km, near a stand of bush, after the Rakaia bends away from the valley wall and the riverbed becomes a viable route again.
Continue downriver past Totara Point, generally hugging the TL valley wall, walking on mostly good river flats with gravel and boulders, and some scrubby terraces. Occasionally, I encountered a bit of a 4WD track, but it always disappeared, until around Jellicoe Stream when it became consistently follow-able. In fact, there are two 4WD tracks: the more distinct one runs on Manuka Point Station land on terraces closer to the valley wall, and the other, for public access up the Rakaia, is less distinct and runs a little farther out in the riverbed. I followed the track on station land, with prior permission. Coming from downriver, the difference between these tracks is obvious and clearly signposted, but from upriver, you may encounter either track and not immediately realise which one you are on as there are no signs from this direction.
Eventually, to reach Golden Point, turn left and head towards the valley wall, where the Rakaia Forest Conservation Area boundary lies. Golden Spur creek may be dry in its lower reaches in mid-summer; I bush-bashed some 100-200m upstream before I found flowing water. At the bottom of the hillside, just east of the end of the stream, there is a small, flat clearing with ample room for a tent and a few fallen logs for seating.
For those heading downvalley or into the Mathias or Wilberforce catchments, Golden Spur is approximately the last opportunity to camp on conservation land with a water source in the Rakaia Valley. Seek permission in advance from the station owners because you must cross station land to reach it. The conservation land lies just outside the Manuka Point fence and this campspot is almost within sight of the station.