The Douglas River is a river of the West Coast

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

 of 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...

's South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

. Its source is high in the Southern Alps

Southern Alps

The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

, five kilometres south of Mount Sefton, and its upper reaches are fed by water from the Douglas Glacier, New Zealand. It flows west for 18 kilometres, joined by runoff from the Horace Walker Glacier, before joining the waters of the Karangarua River

Karangarua River

The Karangarua River is located in the west of New Zealand's South Island. It flows northwest from the Southern Alps, entering the Tasman Sea 80 kilometres northeast of Haast. The main tributary of the Karangarua is the Copland River....

. The Douglas River's entire course is within Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The river and glacier are named after Charles Edward Douglas, a 19th century explorer and mountaineer.

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...

 maintains a backcountry hut

Backcountry hut

Backcountry huts are huts that serve overnight hiking and trekking needs and can be found in many places in the world.-New Zealand:New Zealand has a network of approximately 950 backcountry huts...

at the junction of the Douglas and Horace Walker rivers.