Sutherlands Hut is a DOC hut in the Aorangi Forest Park, South West of Martinborough in the Wairarapa. The ride starts with back country and then windy gravel roads following either Dry River Road/Blue Rock road or White Rock Road/Ruakokoputuna Road, both combinations coming off Lake Ferry Road just South of Martinborough. Both of these options meet an a junction with Haurangi Road which will take you through to Sutherlands Hut, all of these roads are single lane roads.
Once on Haurangi Road you start in rolling hills and bush which quickly changes to a gravel road with a huge drop off into a narrow valley on the right hand side. While the road is usually in fairly good condition the amount of potholes and gravel can vary and there is little scope for error on the right hand side of the road, the road also supplies a number of farms and it is common to meet traffic traveling in both directions.
Haurangi Road travels ~10km to a carpark after which things start to get really interesting, the ~8km from the carpark to the DOC hut is more trail riding that adventure riding following a 4×4 track with numerous river crossings, steep ascents and descents, mud and rocks, sometimes all combined at once, through native bush. A few km in from the carpark there is a large steel gate which has a gap cut into the bank on the right side large enough to get quad bikes through, the area is popular with hunters so it is common to come across them either walking on the track or on quad bikes.
You can ride another km or so past the hut which is some fun tracks and a few more rivers crossings before coming to a dead end.
Doc information for Sutherlands Hut
Contributed by: @eddieb
Track type: Dirt Track
Track composition: Rough, Loose/Muddy, Steep
Slippery when wet?: Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Experienced
River crossings? Yes
https://youtube.com/watch?v=dlGOFaSYTiw
https://youtube.com/watch?v=X268K-AMh6U
https://youtube.com/watch?v=42XbQFtk4vw