Leave The Map Behind

Overnight at New Zealand’s Mueller Hut

by | Jan 8, 2025

The country of New Zealand has earned itself the reputation as being one of the adventure capitals of the world, and a hike up to stay overnight at the iconic Mueller Hut will undoubtedly prove to you why.

This trek is located in the Southern Alps of the South Island inside Mt. Cook National Park. While hiking this trail, you are sure to experience gorgeous mountain peaks,  ridges full of boulders, alpine lakes, and the valleys down below, and if your trip is anything like ours, you are bound to meet people from every corner of the globe.

The location of the Mueller hut was one of the original inspirations for renowned world-class mountaineer Sir Edmond Hillary. The peak Mount Ollivier, which sits above the Mueller Hut, was the first mountain that Hillary had ever climbed.

The Trek

I would describe this trek as being moderately strenuous. The entire hike up is a relentless vertical push that makes you feel like you are on a stair master, and if you’re staying the night, you are bound to have a heavier pack, which adds to the workout. To put this into perspective, there are a recorded 2200 stairs to climb just to get to the hut, and most of these are in the first 50% of the hike. You must be in good cardio shape for this hike, or the trail will beat you up. It’s only once you get to the last kilometer that the trek relents as you transition into the boulder fields before the hut. However, this doesn’t mean the trek gets more manageable at this point. In order to navigate the boulder fields, you are required at times to use all 4 limbs. It isn’t so much a rock climb as it is a light scramble; however, after the never-ending stairs, this section feels much worse than it is.

Length: 9.65 Kilometers

Elevation Gain: 1056 Meters

Time: 3 hours ↑, 2.5 hours ↓

 

 

Here is the All Trails Link:

Mueller Hut Trek

How to Get There

There are several ways to access Mt. Cook National Park, where the trailhead is located. It would depend on how the rest of your itinerary looks while in New Zealand. You could start your trip as we did in Auckland, situated on the North Island, fly into Christchurch on the South Island, or fly into Queenstown if you’re trying to conserve time.

 

  • Option 1: Starting your trip in Auckland. This starting point would make the most sense only if you have 3 or more weeks in the country. Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, and as such, it also has the country’s largest International Airport. If your time allows for it and you want to visit both Islands, I suggest this option. However, it requires a lot of driving and a ferry crossing that must be reserved in advance.
      • Distance from Auckland to Mt. Cook Visitor Center: 1400 Km & 20 hours of driving
  • Option 2: Flying into Christchurch International Airport. This option might prove to be the most ideal if you intend to explore only the South Island. You would fly into South Island’s largest city, which would be a great jumping-off point.
      • Distance from Christchurch to Mt. Cook Visitor Center: 327 Km & 4.25 hours of driving.
  • Option 3: Flying into Queenstown. This is the closest airport worth flying into, if only by 1 hour; however, it would most likely prove to be the most expensive. I would suggest this option if you’re limited by time and only want to see New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
      • Distance from Queenstown to Mt. Cook Visitor Center: 263 Km & 3.25 hours of driving. 

Making Reservations

The Mueller Hut has limited availability, providing 28 Bunks between two rooms; because of this, reservations fill up quickly. The sooner you can reserve your bunk the better. We were able to reserve 2 bunks 2 months in advance and we actually got lucky because we were watching for cancelations.

 

Here is the Department of Conservations website providing information that you will need if planning a trip to the Mueller Hut:

Department of Conservation – Mueller Hut

Here is the website needed to check availability and make reservations for the bunks:

Mueller Hut Reservations

Peak-bagging Mount Ollivier

Once you make the grueling trek to the Mueller Hut, you have the option to drop off your packs and continue on to Mount Ollivier, which sits just above the hut. It is absolutely worth finishing this hike as it only adds another 100 meters of climbing, and the unobstructed views on the peak rival any views I’ve seen from a summit around the world.

If you are interested in the history of the area this peak should grab your interest as well because it is the first mountain that Sir Edmond Hillary ever climbed. He eventually became the first man, along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to climb Mount Everest. Hillary later in life was responsible for the sanctioning of the Mueller Hut and the visitor center at the bottom of the mountain was also named after him.

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