Fiordland huts and campsites: categories, booking and rules

DOC's hut and campsite categories tell you what to expect before you arrive. Huts range from Great Walk huts, the most comfortable, to basic huts and bivvies that give very basic shelter. Campsites range from serviced sites with hot showers and road access for all vehicles to basic sites where you must be fully self-sufficient. DOC says it provides more than 320 campsites across the country, and there are several DOC campsites between Te Anau and The Divide on the Milford Road. This guide explains the categories and how booking works in general. It gives no fees, prices or availability: those change, so check them with DOC when you plan. Track by track rules, such as which huts must be booked, are in the guides for each track.

Milford Track basics

From DOC's guide to its huts, with the hut users code.

• Not a hostel.

  DOC says backcountry huts have no showers, hot water, cooking and eating utensils or bed linen, and you cannot buy food or equipment.

• Shared platforms.

  Bunks are often sleeping platforms allowing a width of 75 centimetres per person.

• Boil the water.

  Hut water often comes from rainwater or streams and may carry Giardia; DOC says boil it for 3 minutes if you are unsure of its quality.

• Sign the book.

  Always fill in the hut intentions book. DOC says it may help search and rescue and shows how often a hut is used.

• Wardens on the Great Walks.

  Great Walk huts often have wardens in the peak summer season, who check passes and tickets and give track, safety and weather information.

• The hut users code.

  No smoking or vaping in huts, and carry it in, carry it out: take all your rubbish, cigarette butts included.

1. 01Check whether it can be booked.

   DOC says some huts can be booked and are paid for when you book; others cannot be booked and work on a first come, first served basis. Campsites work the same way: bookings are needed for all serviced campsites and for some scenic and standard campsites in peak season, usually 1 October to 30 April.

2. 02For a non-bookable hut, buy before you go.

   DOC says pay with a Backcountry Hut Pass or Hut Ticket bought before your trip. From 1 November 2026, DOC says Backcountry Hut Tickets for non-bookable huts will be available through its online booking system; check DOC's page, as this is a recent change.

3. 03Know what a pass covers.

   DOC says a Backcountry Hut Pass gives unlimited use of most serviced and standard huts, and most campsites outside serviced huts, for the period it covers. It can pay for some bookings; Hut Tickets cannot pay for any booking. A Campsite Pass covers DOC conservation campsites, bookable and non-bookable, with some exclusions.

4. 04Book the Great Walks early.

   DOC says the Milford Track's three huts must be booked well in advance in the Great Walks season, and the Kepler Track's three huts and two campsites likewise. All 6 Hollyford Track huts must be booked in advance.

5. 05Save your confirmation.

   DOC says your booking confirmation email is your proof of booking: download and save it before your trip, as it must be shown on request.

DOC says every Great Walk except the Milford Track and the Paparoa Track offers camping near huts or in designated areas, at nearly 60 Great Walk campsites with toilets, hand washing sinks and water. On the Milford Track camping is not permitted. On the Milford Road, DOC describes Cascade Creek Campsite as a standard campsite in northern Fiordland that is good for larger vehicles, with 140 non-powered or tent sites. It needs a booking and keeps no spaces for campers arriving without one. It is close to the Eglinton and Cascade rivers for fly fishing, and the Lake Gunn Nature Walk starts there. Fires need care, because two DOC pages read differently on their own. DOC's Fiordland safety page says no open fires are permitted in the park, to reduce the risk of wildfires; the same page says to put ashes from hut fireplaces in the metal drums and, at campsites, to use only the designated areas. DOC's Cascade Creek page says fires are permitted there only in designated fire places and only if there is no fire ban. We read that as one rule with a place for fires, not a contradiction, but check the rules and any fire ban before you light.

Short walks on the Milford Road

DOC's rules for camping outside a designated campground.

• What counts.

  DOC says that under the Freedom Camping Act 2011, freedom camping means camping outside a designated campground within 200 metres of an area reachable by motor vehicle, of the sea at mean low water spring, or of a formed road or Great Walks track.

• Not on the Milford Road.

  DOC says freedom camping within 200 metres of the road is not allowed on the Milford Road.

• Always.

  Obey camping restriction signs, be responsible with your waste, including human waste, and light no fires.

• No dogs.

  DOC says freedom camping with dogs is not permitted in national parks, and no pets are allowed on conservation land, even in your vehicle in a car park.

• Self-contained vehicles.

  From 7 June 2026, DOC says all vehicles must have a 'green warrant' to be certified self-contained, and a vehicle with a portable toilet can no longer be certified: the toilet must be fixed to the vehicle floor.