---
title: "Heaphy Track booking guide for 2026/27"
short_title: "Booking the Heaphy"
subtitle: "78 km, two road ends a long way apart, and huts to line up night after night. Here's how booking works and what to do when it's full."
description: "How Heaphy Track bookings work for 2026/27: when they open, hut and campsite prices by season, transport between the ends and how to get on when it's full."
published: "2026-11-04"
image: "/images/heaphy-track-hikers.png"
image_alt: "Watercolour illustration of two hikers with full packs on the coastal section of the Heaphy Track, walking past nīkau palms and ferns with the sea and a forested headland beyond"
image_class: "object-cover object-left"
locations: ["heaphy-track"]
cta_splash: "/images/watercolour-terracotta-splash.png"
cta_wash_filter: "saturate(0.4) hue-rotate(157deg) brightness(1.06)"  # sea green, same hero as the Heaphy location page
---

## Heaphy Track booking at a glance

Heaphy Track bookings are made online with the Department of Conservation
(DOC), and every hut and campsite night has to be booked before you start,
all year round. Bookings for the 2026/27 season are already open. The track
is 78.4 km one way between Golden Bay and the West Coast, so your booking is
really two jobs: a run of huts on consecutive nights, and transport that gets
you back to the other end. If your dates show as full, keep reading.

| | |
|---|---|
| Where to book | [DOC bookings](https://bookings.doc.govt.nz) (online) |
| When you need a booking | All year, for every night |
| What you book | A bunk or tent site for every night, for every person |
| Huts | Brown, Perry Saddle, Gouland Downs, Saxon, James Mackay, Heaphy |
| Campsites | Nine along the track, booked separately from the huts |
| Hut price (adult, 1 Oct to 30 Apr) | $44 a night (NZ rate), $66 (international) |
| Campsite price (adult, 1 Oct to 30 Apr) | $19 a night (NZ rate), $28 (international) |
| Waitlist | None. Cancelled places go straight back on sale |

Comparing walks? Our [NZ Great Walks bookings guide](/guides/nz-great-walks-bookings)
puts every Great Walk's prices and opening dates side by side.

## When bookings open

Bookings for each Great Walks season open on a single morning in May, walk by
walk. For 2026/27 the Heaphy opened at 9:30am NZST on 20 May 2026, alongside
the Whanganui Journey and Lake Waikaremoana. DOC runs a waiting lobby on
opening morning: everyone who logs in before 9:30 gets a random place in the
queue, so logging in early earns you nothing, but anyone arriving after 9:30
goes to the back.

The 2027/28 season should open the same way around the middle of May 2027,
with exact dates announced on DOC's blog a few weeks ahead. Our guide to
[when Great Walks bookings open](/guides/when-do-great-walks-bookings-open)
tracks them for every walk.

The Heaphy doesn't close for winter, so there's no off-season gap to plan
around. Missed opening morning? The whole season is already on sale, and
you're competing for what's left plus whatever comes back through
cancellations.

## How to book, step by step

1. **Make a DOC account first.** Set one up at
   [bookings.doc.govt.nz](https://bookings.doc.govt.nz) and check you can log
   in. Bookings can't be transferred to another account holder, so book under
   the person who'll manage the trip.
2. **Pick your end.** It's one way, walked from either end: Brown Hut, 28 km
   up the Aorere Valley from Collingwood in Golden Bay, or Kohaihai, 15 km
   north of Karamea on the West Coast.
3. **Choose a start date and your party.** Every person needs a place on the
   booking, infants included. Ages are infant (0 to 4), child or youth (5 to
   17) and adult (18 and over), and anyone 14 or under walks with an adult.
4. **Pick a hut or campsite for each night.** From the Golden Bay end the
   sections are Brown Hut to Perry Saddle (17.5 km), Gouland Downs (7 km),
   Saxon (5.4 km), James Mackay (11.8 km), Heaphy Hut via Lewis Shelter
   (20.5 km) and out to Kohaihai (16.2 km). A common plan is three nights at
   Perry Saddle, James Mackay and Heaphy, or four with a night at Saxon. Lewis
   Shelter is for emergencies only, not overnight stays, and campers can't use
   the hut facilities.
5. **Pay and keep the confirmation.** Bring photo ID that matches the name on
   the booking.

Then book transport, and treat it as part of the booking rather than an
afterthought. The road ends are 156 km from Nelson (Brown Hut) and 110 km
from Westport (Kohaihai). DOC notes that local operators fly into Tākaka and
Karamea, buses and taxis serve both ends, regular buses run between Nelson
and Westport, and vehicle relocation is available. Some operators don't run
in winter, so check before you lock in off-season dates.

## Prices, changes and cancellations

Prices are in NZD, per person, per night, as listed on DOC's
[Heaphy Track page](https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/nelson-tasman/places/kahurangi-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/heaphy-track/)
while 2026/27 bookings are open. They drop in the cooler months, and outside
summer New Zealanders and international visitors pay the same.

| Adult, per night | NZ rate | International |
|---|---|---|
| Hut, 1 Oct to 30 Apr | $44 | $66 |
| Hut, 1 May to 30 Jun | $38 | $38 |
| Hut, 1 Jul to 31 Aug | $30 | $30 |
| Hut, 1 to 30 Sep | $38 | $38 |
| Campsite, 1 Oct to 30 Apr | $19 | $28 |
| Campsite, 1 May to 30 Sep | $19 | $19 |

Children pay half the adult hut rate (NZ rate 5 to 17, international 0 to
17), and NZ-rate infants are free. The NZ rate needs proof of eligibility;
book it without that and you pay the difference plus an administration fee.

A summer three-night hut trip comes to $132 per adult on the NZ rate or $198
international, and the four-night version $176 or $264. The same three nights
in July or August is $90 for anyone.

**Changing dates.** You can move a booking to other dates in the same season,
subject to availability, but not to someone else's account.

**Cancelling.** Great Walks cancellation fees are small well ahead of time and
climb steeply in the last fortnight, reaching the full price on arrival day.
Medical cancellations with a certificate are refunded. If DOC closes the track
you can ask for a refund of unused nights or a move to other dates. Weather
that doesn't close it doesn't trigger a refund, and no-shows lose everything.

## Booked out? How to still get on

DOC has no waitlist. Cancelled places go straight back on sale to whoever is
looking at that moment. On the Heaphy they come back for all the usual reasons,
plus one of its own: a trip that depends on a flight or a car relocation at
the far end falls over more easily than most, and the bunks get released.
Because your trip needs three or four huts on consecutive nights, one freed
bunk in the right hut can turn a full date into a bookable one.

You can't watch the calendar all day. Spotbagger can. Set a watch on your
dates and party size and we check the DOC booking system often, then tell you
when a complete Perry Saddle, James Mackay and Heaphy trip opens up (or the
four-night version through Saxon), from either end. You book it yourself on
DOC's site. The [Heaphy Track page](/locations/heaphy-track) shows how the
watch works on this track.

If summer stays full, the Heaphy's year-round season gives you room to move.
From 1 May to 30 November it's also open to mountain bikers, in groups of up
to six, in daylight only and in both directions, so expect to share the track
then. In the same corner of the South Island, the
[Abel Tasman Coast Track](/locations/abel-tasman-coast-track) is another
year-round Great Walk worth a watch, and our guide to
[NZ Great Walks that have sold out](/guides/nz-great-walks-sold-out) covers
how cancellations work across all of them.

## Common questions

### Do you need to book the Heaphy Track?

Yes. DOC says all huts and campsites on the Heaphy must be booked in advance,
all year round. Without a valid booking you can be charged a penalty or
turned away if the hut or campsite is full.

### How much does the Heaphy Track cost?

From 1 October to 30 April huts are $44 a night on the NZ rate and $66
international, and campsites $19 or $28. A three-night hut trip is $132 or
$198 per adult. Prices drop from May, to a low of $30 a night for everyone in
July and August. Flights or shuttles between the ends are extra.

### When do Heaphy Track bookings open?

For 2026/27 they opened at 9:30am NZST on 20 May 2026. The 2027/28 season
should open around mid-May 2027, on a date DOC announces on its blog.

### How does Heaphy Track hut booking work?

You book a hut or campsite for every night, all year round. There are six
bookable huts: Brown, Perry Saddle, Gouland Downs, Saxon, James Mackay and
Heaphy. Lewis Shelter is for emergencies only, so don't plan a night there.

### Can you mountain bike the Heaphy Track?

Yes, from 1 May to 30 November. DOC grades it for advanced riders and
suggests two days for fit, experienced riders or three for others. E-bikes,
night riding and bikes inside huts aren't allowed, and riders book huts and
campsites the same way walkers do.

### Is there a waitlist for the Heaphy Track?

No. DOC doesn't run waitlists. Cancelled places are released straight back
onto the booking system, which is why a watch on your dates is the best way to
catch one.