Backcountry huts are hut

Hut

Hut may refer to:*Hut , a small and crude shelter*Hans Hut , Anabaptist leader*Hut Records, an English audio records company*Sunglass Hut International, largest American retailer of sunglasses...

s that serve overnight hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 and trekking

Backpacking (wilderness)

Backpacking combines the activities of hiking and camping for an overnight stay in backcountry wilderness...

 needs and can be found in many places in the world.

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 has a network of approximately 950 backcountry huts. The huts are officially maintained by the Department of Conservation (DOC), although some of the huts have been adopted and maintained by local tramping (hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

) and hunting clubs by arrangement. There are also unofficial and privately owned huts in some places. They vary from small bivouac shelter

Bivouac shelter

A bivouac traditionally refers to a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire or such a site where a camp may be built. It is also commonly used to describe a variety of improvised camp sites such as those used in scouting and...

s made of wood to large modern huts that can sleep up to 40 people, with separate cooking areas, utilities and gas.

Some huts were initially commissioned or built by clubs along commonly walked routes, both for safety reasons as appropriate, and sometimes for convenience. The network of back-country huts in New Zealand was largely extended in the mid-20th-century, when many more were built to serve the deer cullers of the New Zealand Forest Service

New Zealand Forest Service

The New Zealand Forest Service was originally established in 1919 as the State Forest Service. The State Forest Service changed its name to the New Zealand Forest Service in 1949 at about the same time that the Forests Act of 1949 passed through Parliament....

 . Most larger and more modern huts, like some found on the Great Walks

New Zealand Great Walks

The New Zealand Great Walks are a set of popular tramping tracks. They are New Zealand's premier tracks, through areas of some of the best scenery in the country...

, have been purpose designed and built to serve trampers (hikers). Many of New Zealand's back-country huts are remote and rarely visited, and it is common for recreational trampers to design trips with the idea of reaching and visiting specific huts. Some people actively keep count of which huts they've visited; a practice which is informally referred to as Hut Bagging.

Back-country huts in New Zealand were free to use until the early 1990s, when the New Zealand Department of Conservation

New Zealand Department of Conservation

The Department of Conservation , commonly known by its acronym, "DOC", is the state sector organisation which deals with the conservation of New Zealand’s natural and historic heritage...

 began charging for their use. For most back-country huts, nightly hut tickets are purchased via an honesty system by people who use the huts, with an additional option of purchasing an Annual Hut Pass (similar to a season ticket

Season ticket

A season ticket is a ticket that grants privileges over a defined period of time.-Sport:In sport, a season ticket grants the holder access to all regular-season home games for one season without additional charges. The ticket usually offers a discounted price over purchasing a ticket for each of...

) for people who use huts frequently. Huts on frequently used and heavily marketed tracks, such as the New Zealand Great Walks

New Zealand Great Walks

The New Zealand Great Walks are a set of popular tramping tracks. They are New Zealand's premier tracks, through areas of some of the best scenery in the country...

, usually operate on a booking system, and often have resident wardens checking the bookings of users who arrive to stay the night. 

Since the inception of hut fees in New Zealand, there has been controversy amongst some hut users. Many users belong to clubs which helped to build and maintain the huts before the government department was created, and consequently inherited them. It is common to find people who refuse to pay for the use of huts in protest, arguing that the government is trying to charge them to use facilities that they themselves are entirely responsible for providing. DOC argues that all hut fees are used for the continued maintenance of huts, and for building new huts as appropriate. It has at times made efforts to demonstrate this by specifically allocating money from hut fees towards budgets for these purposes.

The majority of the huts were built in an era of lower levels of government regulation and the long term use of the huts was not considered. As a result of the Cave Creek disaster

Cave Creek disaster

The Cave Creek disaster was an event in which 14 people died when a scenic viewing platform collapsed. It occurred in Paparoa National Park on New Zealand's West Coast, on 28 April 1995. The tragedy resulted in wide criticism of the government and its policies towards funding and management of...

 in 1995 DOC tightened up on the standards for structures on public land. Some of the huts were upgraded to meet build regulations whilst others were removed or had certain facilities (such as beds) removed to cause them to fall into less strict building categories. In 2008, due to the recognition of the unique situation and the remote locations, the government relaxed the building standards for the huts. They now no longer are need to have emergency lighting, smoke alarms, wheelchair access, potable water supplies or artificial lighting.

United States

In the United States, backcountry huts may be provided by the Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

, state or national parks such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...

 . The Tenth Mountain Huts is a system of 29 backcountry huts in the Colorado Rocky Mountains honoring the men of 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, who trained during World War II at Camp Hale in central Colorado. They provide a unique opportunity for backcountry skiing, mountain biking, or hiking while staying in safe, comfortable shelter.

External links

• Backcountry Ski Huts in BC, Canada - listing and map of huts in the province
• New Zealand Department of Conservation - information on huts
• Using Backcountry Huts Properly - information on proper use of backcountry huts.
• Remote Huts on the West Coast of the South Island - hut photos and route descriptions
• huttrip.com - route descriptions and details on using huts
• Tenth Mountain Huts - Main site for the Tenth Mountain Huts