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Access Note: The two main access tracks for Mt Richmond (via Richmond Saddle and Mt Fell) start amongst forestry land on the true left of the Wairau Valley. This land is managed by OneFortyOne, a company which largely oversees plantations on behalf of various iwi-led entities. Access to the tramping tracks is provided through personal access easements (PAEs), which were established in the 1990s to guarantee continuing public access as Crown forestry blocks were either onsold or transferred as part of Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
OneFortyOne can legally close these PAEs under specific circumstances, which are typically cited as "safety reasons". There has been a bit of media coverage in recent years over what represents a reasonable closure, particularly as the PAEs have sometimes been closed for almost a year due to forestry operations or road damage. Regardless, it's expected that those heading up Richmond check the status of the access road (Top Valley Road) and the PAE which leads to the track start (Jacksons Creek Road and Richmond Saddle Road). The status of these is provided on the DOC website under "Mt Richmond Forest Park access", or directly on the OneFortyOne website.
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With a week in Blenheim, I had decided that at least one day should be set aside to climb Mt Richmond. Despite growing up in the shadow of the range, the only significant peak I'd climbed was Fishtail in the mid 2010s. Richmond is the namesake peak of the range and the second highest, easily visible from Blenheim. I was a bit nervous around the physicality of the day, as it's a lot of climbing and I've always struggled to upkeep significant fitness with my current work routine. Nevertheless, the forecast for the Tuesday was somewhat promising (somewhere between sunny and partly cloudy) so it was all on.
I'm not normally a morning person, and daylight savings had just kicked in a few days prior. However, I had afternoon commitments so the alarm was set for the painful time of 5:45am (really 4:45am!). A somewhat restless and anticipatory sleep was broken by my phone, and I was up and into it. Breakfast was had, the last of the packing was done and I was out the door sometime around 6:30am. I hadn't looked out the window before departing, but I could soon make out the pre-dawn silhouette of the range peaks which was promising.
The track start requires navigating Northbank Road, which unsurprisingly follows the northern bank of the Wairau River. It's quite a slow drive in places, at the time of writing there's a large slip being remediated about 2km from the SH6 junction and a number of traffic lights and 30kph areas to dodge old rockfall and places where the river has consumed part of the road. I did make it to the junction with Top Valley Road unscathed, only to then inadvertently drive up to the wrong carpark (the one which leads to The Forks track). The topo map redirected me back to the right general spot, where my confusion was resolved by finding the track signpost has been run down (seemingly by a vehicle) and discarded into the grass.
It's probably a good time to highlight that while Northbank is a lovely spot, it is somewhat isolated (i.e. it's commercial forestry and farms) and like a lot of roadends, it can have issues with antisocial behaviour and crime. A wide range of people pass through here - 4WDers, dirt bikers, hunters, those gathering firewood from the forests under a permit system. A few years back, two vehicles on Top Valley Road were attacked - one was ransacked, the other torched. If you can get dropped off or take a vehicle that can ford Top Valley Stream, those would reduce the risk of vehicle crime - otherwise, you might just have to take reasonable precautions such as not leaving valuables in your vehicle. There is limited parking available at the track start, perhaps room for three or four vehicles on a grass verge - however, it's not a wildly popular walk so unlikely to be full.
You can start the track from either Top Valley Road or the top of Richmond Saddle Road, which are about 3.5km and 300m of elevation apart. There used to be a vehicle bridge over Top Valley Stream years ago, but this is long gone (along with the marked stub of road) and access through is now via a track which takes off slightly prior to the old marked route. The crossing itself looked ok to me - good entry and exits, perhaps calf deep across a wide channel, not too bouldery. There was no way I would drive it in the small hybrid I had, but things like a mini-SUV would probably clear it with care. The subsequent road travel is also largely good, with a mixture of well formed dirt roads and sections on bedrock. There are a number of pines down on the road, some of which would probably need cutting back before they were passable in a vehicle.
The crossing of Top Valley Stream, surprisingly placid.
Anyway, enough of the logistics. The first pertinent question is probably how long to allow, and whether this is better done as a day or overnight trip. DOC does mention that "It's possible to climb to Mt Richmond (1760 m) in a day but a good level of fitness is essential", though it's not completely clear whether this means the full out-and-back given the signposted times for these sum to 14h return. It's also not clear whether this assumes that one starts at the upper carpark, which cuts a few hours (and quite a bit of climbing) off the route.
For what it's worth, my take is that it's easily doable as a day trip (and a reasonably quick one) from the lower carpark but the limiting factor will be whether you can stomach the distance and elevation. It's ~23.5km and 1820m of elevation gain, it took me a bit under 4:40 return (plus lunch at the hut and some time moseying on the summit). It definitely needs to be noted that this is a good pace and quicker than most, parties looking to do this as a day trip should start earlier and have a defined turnaround time to avoid benightment. The track is well-formed for the most part, but it's undeniably one of the more physical days a tramper might have. Richmond Saddle Hut is situated at roughly 10km in with 1100m ish of climbing to get to it, which splits the climb into two moderate days if that is more to your style.
Setting out from the carpark, I utilised Dad's suggestion to bring boat shoes for the crossing of Top Valley Stream. It was good advice, the crossing is easy and it's the only wet feet you'll get all day. I walked the first 100m or so of Jackson Creek Road in the shoes, then swapped them out for running shoes and stowed the boat shoes adjacent to the road. Then I was all set for the route ahead, and it was into a steady rhythm of tapping out the kilometres up the road.
One of the nicer sections of Jacksons Creek Road, though it's in reasonable condition throughout.
It took a bit over half an hour to clear the 3.5km of road. You hit a logging skid with nice views up to Mt Richmond near the end, before a short descent to a secondary carpark and the start of the track proper. Once in the bush, the route briefly climbs sharply as a harsh introduction but soon relaxes to moderate travel up the spur.
The first view of the summit region (Johnston Peak visible) from a skid site near the top of Richmond Saddle Road.
The lower section of the route is near pristine, a broad track cut through beech forest with just occasional patches of windfall. It's also quite nondescript until you hit pt. 1088, where there are some outcrops which permit panoramic views. It's a really nice vista, and not vastly inferior to those on the summit - possibly a good option for those who want the views without the commitment of the full ascent.
Heading up the lower spur, the track is mostly pristine especially amongst the flatter sections.
A view across to the upper Hodder peaks, the snowy ones are Tapuae-o-Uenuku (left) and Mt Alarm (right). Mitre Peak and Mt Gladstone are also marginally visible in shadow.
Bounds (left) and Pinnacle (centre right), two of the high peaks abutting the Leatham Valley.
The first view of the summit of Richmond, clouds threatening to envelop it.
From pt. 1088, the route meanders up and down a little before pt. 1416 comes into view. It's quite an imposing leading ridge, but fortunately the track only climbs halfway up before it swings right to sidle. It's not a wildly pleasant sidle to be fair, most of the face is old slip debris which has revegetated which means the foot trail is not always obvious nor is it always benched. However, it is well marked and with care, very followable to the saddle which houses the hut.
Sidling under pt. 1416 on the way to Richmond Saddle.
Richmond Saddle Hut sleeps eight, and it's a pleasant location. There are views to the north, and goats - so many goats. The hut was tidy, it has a toilet and cleared surrounds which slope away - I'm not sure if camping would be great adjacent. It also has views up to the route ahead, the somewhat imposing upper faces of Richmond.
Richmond Saddle Hut in its clearing, Grass Knob background left.
The interior of Richmond Saddle Hut.
I had a quick snack at the hut, and filled my water bottles. I was just wearing my 12L running vest for the day, so had 2 x 500mL bottles as hydration. The plan had been to drink them down on the ascent, fill them both up and split an AquaTab for purification, but things went a bit awry. The tap on the hut tank is quite close to the ground, so I couldn't get either bottle full. I also couldn't split the water purification tablet, so used one for each bottle. I somehow finished up with maybe 700mL of water between them and all of my water purification tablets gone, but fortunately it wasn't a super warm September day and it was enough to see me through.
From the hut, the route climbs quickly through open forest up to the bushline. There is a ground trail and some marking, but it's a very open understory which means the exact routing isn't always easy to discern. About five minutes after setting out, the vegetation transitions to scrub and shortly after, a face composed to blocky rockfall and sporadic tussock tongues.
Heading up through open understory between the hut and the bushline.
A very short section of tussock between the forest and the upper rock slopes.
There are waratahs marking a route up the face, though at this point it's fine to just pick the most appealing route and go for it. There is a discontinuous eroded ground trail, but as long as you stay right of the obvious cliff band you will eventually break over the lip of the steeper ground and onto shallower rock slopes. This section can be a little hard underfoot, a careful balancing act although the rocks are mostly coherent.
A wider view of the rock face, the poled route drifts slightly left then curves right behind the blocky rock spur to meet the skyline waratahs.
The top of the steeper section.
A sideways glance towards Bounds / Pinnacle to show the gradient.
Plus a view back down to the hut.
A bit of waterfall ice present, there was also icing in some of the shaded sections of ground trail which made life more interesting.
The easier upper slopes, summit ridge on the skyline.
At roughly 1670m, the summit ridge is gained and from here it was a stroll up to the high point. Reaching the ridge revealed the mixed blessing of very cold and blustery winds, along with gratitude for the shelter the peak had provided in the hours prior. After 2.5 hours of walking, I reached the summit with its panoramic views and quickly hunkered down into the rock wall that some kind soul had built previously.
The summit ridge of Richmond.
The summit views are delightful, and in many ways it was a bit of a shame I couldn't enjoy them further because of the gales. Still, it's a mountain environment and the vistas were mostly clear - Tapuae-o-Uenuku and Alarm, Bounds, the Richmond Range tops and the forested ridges radiating in the distance beyond the Mt Fell / Johnston Peak ridge.
Mt Fell (left) with the wider ranges scattered behind.
Down the summit ridge, Abel Tasman in the distance.
Across to the distinctive Mt Fishtail.
The summit view west, the Red Hills in the distance.
The rock wall on the summit, brilliant protection from the gales.
After lazing in my summit cocoon for perhaps 15 minutes, it was time to return to civilisation. Dropping back down the summit ridge, I took the chance to admire the vegetable sheep and then swung left to track back to the saddle. The descent felt less committing than the climb, though it somehow took just as long despite it being a 600m drop rather than ascent.
Approaching the shelter of the bush once more.
At the hut, it was time to sign the hut book again and scoot. This time there were three goats in the clearing, lots of animals in this part of the range. The sidle under pt. 1416 felt a bit easier this time, though I still managed to lose the track once - it swings uphill after crossing an eroded dirt runnel, something I initially missed after crossing the gully directly. Otherwise, it was plain sailing with ups and downs on heavy legs, before hitting the spur crest at around 1260m and commencing the descent proper.
A bit of companionship amongst the outcrops.
Some lovely rock travel on the ridge crest.
There were occasional short climbs, but it was otherwise around 1000m of straightforward descent back to the valley floor. I retrieved my boat shoes, and was quickly back at the car which was mercifully untouched. A wonderful way to round out a delightful day trip not far from the sunshine capital of New Zealand.
