3112 Red Hills, Richmond Range

Departure and End: St Arnaud. I am treating this 4 or 5-day trip as a warm-up for my Bounds Circuit Trip that will follow.

Day 1: Start walking from Six Creek Carpark to Red Hills Hut (2hrs).

Day 2: Walk to Hunters Hut via Porters Creek Hut (7hrs).

Day 3: Walk about 1km north on poled track then follow a stream up to the ridgeline near Pt 1374 OR, we can follow the poled track all the way to Pt 1374 via Mt Ellis. Then, continue along the ridgeline to Red Hill and descend to a tarn and camp for the night. If the availability of water is difficult, we may need to drop down to the upper valley of the Motueka River Right Branch to camp.

Day 4: From either camp site from last night, we make our way down the ridgeline to an area called The Plateau, and head for Red Hills Hut and possible onto the Carpark. If the going is slow, we can use the option of staying at Red Hills Hut for the night and walk out the next morning (only 2hrs).

The attraction of the Red Hills is the “ultramafic” geology. This means there is an abundance of minerals, including iron, magnesium, copper and chrome, which give the rocks brilliant colours, particularly reds and oranges. Due to the toxic nature of the soils for tree growth, much of the area is covered in scrub and tussock