Originally Posted: January 2025
My wife and I first experienced backcountry hut-to-hut travel several years ago in New Zealand. Since then, we have utilized hut systems in Tasmania, Italy, Patagonia, Switzerland, Canada, and America. Although our experiences have been overwhelmingly favorable, we are continually surprised to discover the great differences between various hut systems around the world. Huts can vary greatly in terms of what amenities they offer, how you book them, and how popular they are.
Hut Types & Typical Amenities
Bivouac Huts
The most rudimentary type of hut is a bivouac hut. These typically comprise only a basic structure in which to escape the weather, either in a pre-planned or emergency situation. They are often located in a fairly remote location along a trekking or climbing route. Many bivouac huts provide some basic amenities such as wooden bunks, blankets, and a stove but little else. Running water might be available nearby. Typically, they are not staffed and can’t be reserved; bunk space is secured a first-come, first-served basis.
The bivouac hut we stayed in while traveling through New Zealand offered extremely spartan accommodations, but it also included an outhouse. In contrast, the bivouac huts we encountered in the Italian Dolomites was furnished with sleeping pads, blankets, cookware, fuel, and a cookstove.
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Cooking Huts
Many hut systems consist of cooking huts that are designed to be utilized in conjunction with tent camping. They provide indoor cooking and eating areas, typically furnished with tables, chairs, and (in some cases) propane cookstoves. You often need to bring your own cookware, utensils, and possibly a cookstove. These types of huts are very nice for gathering in at mealtime, especially on rainy days.
As an example, the Overland Track in Tasmania has a system of cooking huts located in established camping areas. Although the huts also have a small number of plywood bunks, they are not intended to accommodate every camper; you are required to carry a tent and sleeping gear on the Overland Track. The bunks are merely an amenity available to a limited number of campers on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Cooking & Sleeping Huts
The next level up in comfort are the cooking & sleeping huts, which have both kitchens and bunkrooms. These are typically equipped with stoves, fuel, cookware, utensils, wooden bunks, and sleeping pads. You need to bring your own food and sleeping bag, and to do your own cooking and cleanup, but the rest is there for you.
The Great Walk treks in New Zealand and the Three Capes trek in Tasmania have cooking & sleeping huts along the way. Some have solar-powered lights and charging stations, along with solar-heated showers. In nearly all cases, the huts are staffed by rangers.
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Full-Service Huts
At the highest level are full-service huts, which have cafeterias, bunkrooms, and indoor bathrooms. Breakfast and dinner are typically included in the nightly fee, and lunch is often available for an extra charge. Bunkrooms are typically equipped with a sleeping pad, blankets, and a pillow, but you are required to bring your own sleeping sack. Many huts have hot showers available, as well as a small store where you can purchase trail essentials and packaged food items.
Full-service huts are prevalent throughout the mountains of Europe. We have stayed in many such huts while trekking in the Alps and very much enjoyed the rustic luxury that they provide.
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Combination Huts
The “O” and “W” trekking routes in Patagonia have a system of combination huts, which give you sleeping and dining options. For sleeping, you can reserve an indoor bunk, which comes with all bedding, or you can pitch a tent outside. For dining, you can cook some or all of your own meals in a cooking shelter, or you can eat some or all of your meals in the cafeteria. Most huts also have small stores equipped with trail essentials and packaged food. During our eight days on the “O” + “W” trekking circuit, my wife and I slept in our own tent every night, but we cooked our own meals on four days and partook of cafeteria meals for the other four days. This hybrid approach allowed us to eliminate several pounds of food from our backpacks.
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Hut Systems in the USA
Full-service mountain hut systems are rare in America, but there are a few systems of bivouac huts, cooking huts, and cooking & sleeping huts. Examples include the Mount Tahoma Huts in western Washington, the Three Sisters Huts in central Oregon, the Tenth Mountain Huts in central Colorado, and the San Juan Huts in southern Colorado. The overall scarcity of mountain huts in America compared to other countries is due in large part to the vast territory encompassed by designated wilderness areas, which prohibit such structures. Existing huts tend to be located just outside the boundaries of these wilderness areas.
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Booking Your Huts
Here are some tips for booking mountain huts, based on our personal experience in various countries.
- The key to booking huts is to first figure out who owns the huts. For instance, the Great Walk huts in New Zealand and the Overland Huts and Three Capes huts Tasmania are owned by government agencies, whereas most huts in Europe are privately owned by alpine clubs or families.
- Most huts can be booked online, but some are still booked by email or phone call only. They will have an established date and time at which reservations open. Several of these hut systems are in high demand, so it is important to plan ahead and be ready to book as soon as they open.
- When you prepare to do the Overland Track Traverse or Three Capes Traverse in Tasmania, your hut reservation comes with all your hut bookings. The disadvantage is that you are not allowed to stay two nights in any hut.
- The Great Walks in New Zealand allow you to skip huts or stay multiple nights in any one hut. You need to make individual hut bookings, but at least you are using the same online system, which opens all huts on the same date and time.
- Typically, huts that are privately owned must be reserved individually. This makes booking multiple huts more difficult, especially if you are putting together a hut-to-hut traverse.
- When reserving privately owned huts on a traverse, you need to get organized ahead of time. We use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of which huts we want on which day, along with alternative huts in a different column just in case our first choice is not available. Next, we find the website for each hut. Be aware that some alpine clubs might not have their own website.
- From a hut’s website, you can hopefully find out how to book the hut and when bookings open. If there is no information, contact the hut via email. Be aware that it may take a week or so for the hut to get back to you. Also, keep checking your junk mail or spam folder for a response (this has happened to us many times).
- Some really popular huts still handle bookings only by email. Be sure to read the instructions carefully. Most of the time, they reject requests received before a specific date and time. Some even throw out all your requests if they receive two of them.
- Do not call a hut until their opening date. If they are closed, no one is there to pick up messages. Sometimes you can text a hut via WhatsApp, but always try email first.
Paying for Your Huts
Mountain hut costs and payment arrangements vary greatly, depending on ownership, popularity, and amenities. Here are some comments and tips that we can offer on the basis of our personal experience in various countries.
- Most publicly owned huts are paid for when you book them. A credit card is the generally accepted form of payment.
- Alpine club huts are typically paid for when you arrive. However, verify in advance that the hut can take credit cards, because some huts only accept cash.
- If you join a European alpine club before you go, you will receive a discount when you stay at any club-owned hut. We are members of the Austrian Alpine Club, which owns many huts in the Dolomites, and our membership also comes with evacuation insurance and some medical coverage.
- Privately owned huts have their own rules. Some require you to pay in advance, either with a credit card or wire transfer. We find that most will also accept PayPal. If you pay in person when you arrive, verify that they can take credit cards, as some only take cash.
- Typically, hut payments are non-refundable. Even if you don’t pay in advance, some huts will charge your card automatically on the day you were supposed to arrive.
- Most bivouac huts operate on the honor system, such that you pay at the hut only after you use it.
What You Need to Bring
Not surprisingly, what you need to bring to a mountain hut depends on what hut system you are staying in. Here are some suggestions for what to bring with you.
- For bivouac huts and cooking huts, such as those on the Overland Track in Tasmania, you are basically tent camping. Bring everything you would on a normal backpacking trip. Here is our Overland Track packing list.
- When staying in sleeping huts, such as those on the Three Capes Track, your backpack tends to get a bit lighter. You can leave your tent, sleeping pads, and cooking pots at home. Here is our Three Capes Track packing list.
- We love hut-to-hut treks that utilize full-service huts, such as those in the Italian Dolomites, because our pack weight tends to range between 25 and 35 pounds. It is possible to carry even lighter packs, but we do enjoy some luxury items. Here is our Dolomite Alta Via 2 packing list.
- We nearly always carry our own snack food to eat on the trail, although we will occasionally stop at a hut en route for a hot lunch. In our experience, the “brown bag” lunches offered by many huts are not worth the cost.
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