Video: Islands Hut in the Eyre Mountains, January 2025
Access granted, and a summer hiking dream fulfilled...
(Video below…)
I tried to access Islands Hut in autumn last year, but the Acton Road Forest Gate was locked due to illegal (and dangerous) deer hunters. A forestry worker confirmed that access was impossible then, which saddened me.
(Not all deer hunters are evil, just some)…
When requesting access it pays to be persistent and upfront. Six months later, I walked into Invercargill’s Rayonier Forestry Office—there’s nothing like face-to-face communication—and checked with senior management that it was, in fact, OK to walk or bike the track (don’t drive through and um… leave your gun at home!). This made me happy!
The video tells the story. I’ll jot down some statistics below.
Trip statistics
Time: two day trip
Distance/time biked on forest road: 13 km each day, 70 minutes going in and a bit less when coming out.
Height gained /distance walked/time taken to walk to the hut on the first day: 700 meters/13 kms/7 hours
Height gained /distance walked on the second day: 400 meters/ 13 kms/10 and one-half hours.
Islands Hut is a four bunk hut and exceptionally clean and tidy….
A big thanks to the volunteers at Permolat!
Islands Hut is freshly renovated - thanks to Permolat
Permolat on Facebook: “for those who value our remote backcountry, and are interested in maintaining tracks and huts”.
If you have questions or similar experiences to share, leave a comment!
Bruce