Sam Summers Hut
Introduction
This is an historic hut in the Queenstown/Wakatipu area. Overnight stays are not allowed.Description
- There is a toilet available.
- Overnight stays have not been not allowed since 1 December 2021. Information about the change from overnight to day-visitors only.
- Fires not permitted at any time.
Getting there
The hut sits high in the bush beside a waterfall on the Mt Crichton Loop Track.
History
The hut was built in the 1930s by gold prospector Sam Summers.
Sam and his brothers built this hut with schist and iron in 1930. It served them well as necessary shelter against the often-brutal weather as they sluiced for gold nearby. Sam spent 10 years during the Great Depression while prospecting and hunting along the 12-mile creek. He had a good vegetable garden and strawberry beds near the hut. During those lean times, all these endeavours provided for Sam’s siblings - a sister and nine brothers.
Sam left his hut to go to war (WW2), but returned to visit many times, often walking all the way from Queenstown.
Sam Summers Hut is a local favourite and was regularly repaired and maintained over its near 100-year history. Along with other nearby historic goldmining marks on the landscape such as the sluiced canyon and the tailrace tunnel, the hut stands as a window into the regions past.