Tag: Kohaihai Carpark

With just over 71 km, the Heaphy Track is the longest of the pedestrian Great Walks, and I use the word “pedestrian” advisedly, because the Whanganui River Journey, a Great Walk that can only be done by kayak/canoe, is twice as long, and the Heaphy is open for pedestrians only in the Great Walks Season (November – April). In the winter time it is a mountain bike track, so be warned.

Section (with links)	Distance	Track Time	Break	Mean speed	Median time|distance	Ascent	Descent
Brown Hut Access – Perry Saddle	16.0 km	4:09 h	0:25 h	3.87 km/h	4.14|4.39 km/h	1408 m (D-)	670 m (M+)
Perry Saddle – James Mackay	21.3 km	5:04 h	1:49 h	4.21 km/h	4.47|4.67 km/h	609 m (M-)	778 m (E+)
James Mackay – Heaphy Hut	18.2 km	4:17 h	1:12 h	4.25 km/h	4.64|4.88 km/h	341 m (E+)	1033 m (M)
Heaphy Hut – Kohaihai Carpark	15.6 km	3:35 h	0:23 h	4.36 km/h	4.79|5.09 km/h	504 m (E+)	508 m (M-)
Totals	71.1 km	17:05 h	3:49 h	4.17 km/h	4.47|4.72 km/h	2892 m (M)	3020 m (M-)
Summary of the Heaphy Track. Climb categories are: Flat (< 1.9°/3.3%), Easy (> 1.9°/3.3%), Moderate (> 3.8°/6.6%), Demanding (> 7.5°/13%, < 15°/27%)

However, the nature of the walk is very much determined by its dual purpose as a tramping/biking track. The major ascent – from the Brown Hut access in the Brown Valley to Perry Saddle Hut – barely just qualifies as being “D-”, and for the most part it is a comparatively gentle climb netting 830 m. The major descent from James Mackay to Heaphy Huts netts just on 700 m. Not only are the slopes much gentler than, say, the Dusky Track, but the path itself is for the most part well-formed and there is very little mud to wade through. And the speed distribution confirms it: 75% of the time on the Heaphy Track was traversed at speeds greater than 3.6 km/h. And I like to think that the daily increase in speed of around 0.1 km/h was due to progressive lightening of the pack… Read more…