For a significant number of years, the hut was thought to be on Maori Land, however in the mid 2010's, Land Info. NZ & the Maori Land Court identified the hut sat approx. 150m inside the Ruahine FP boundary. The hut is very rundown & as of Oct., 2021, 'closed' by DOC. As of April, 2022, discussions are underway between DOC, the Back Country Trust & adjourning land owners to rebuilt the hut. A new water tank was added by DOC in July, 2021. It used to be a 4-bunk hut but somebody has removed one of the top bunks. There are no mattresses & the open fire has been removed too. Edit Hut
Gutted to see the state of this hut. I used to stay in Aranga back in the 90s and it was a welcome refuge after hunting the tops. The door was wide open on arrival, a munted fireplace cobbled together from an old school milk urn, no wood stacked, rubbish all around the hut, half the bunks destroyed - likely burned - and what looked like the remains of a fire across the ceiling. A real loss.