New DOC Cabin for Rimutaka Forest Park
7 December 2016
New DOC Cabin for Rimutaka Forest Park
A new all-mod-cons cabin at the gateway to the Department of Conservation’s most popular Wellington recreation area will be open in time for summer.
The Coast Road Cabin is at the entrance to Catchpool Valley in the Rimutaka Forest Park, which attracts 25,000 visitors a year. The renovated self-contained house has three bedrooms, full kitchen facilities, hot shower, lighting and heating and will be an overnight option for groups and families. The cabin will open for bookings from Wednesday 7 December.
Jack Mace, Kapiti Wellington Operations Manager says, “The Catchpool and the Orongorongo valleys are classic Kiwi weekend destinations. We’re pleased to add a new overnight option to make getting out into the hills easier for more people.”
DOC aims to connect more New Zealanders with nature. The Rimutaka Forest Park offers fourteen tramping and walking options plus hunting, swimming, fishing, camping, horse trekking and cycle trails. North Island brown kiwi were first released in 2008 by the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust. With about 100 adult and juvenile kiwi now roaming the valleys, overnight visitors have a chance of seeing or hearing kiwi calling at night.
The new cabin sleeps up to 13 people, and can be booked for sole occupancy by a single group for $200 per night.
“DOC’s bookable accommodation options are increasingly popular. This new cabin allows us to increase overnight capacity close to the well-used Orongorongo Valley bookable huts,” says Jack.
Options to book DOC huts in advance are expanding throughout the region; bunks in huts on the Mount Holdsworth to Jumbo circuit in the Tararua Forest Park can be booked over the summer months, and visitors to Ruahine Forest Park’s Sunrise and Rangiwahia huts will now also be able to guarantee a bed from 1 December.
Reservations for bookable huts and cabins can be made via DOC’s online booking system – www.doc.govt.nz. Details of the location and features of the new Coast Road Cabin can be found at www.doc.govt.nz/coast-road-cabin.
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