DoC has issued alerts about more than 2300 closures of tracks, huts, campsites, roads and other infrastructure over the past five years.
The Department of Conservation issued at least 2300 closure alerts on its website between 2021 and early this year, with nearly three-quarters linked to storm damage and environmental deterioration.
Data released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act shows the notices were issued for tracks, huts, campsites, roads and other infrastructure.
More than 1600 were tied to environmental impacts, including slips, flooding, heavy rain, rockfalls and storm damage.
Most were temporary closures. However, 201 tracks and 58 huts were permanently closed or removed.
DoC says some of those huts have since been replaced.
In 2021, more than 390 notices were issued. In 2023, that rose to at least 497 as the country experienced severe weather events, including Cyclone Gabrielle.
Last year, the tally hit at least 519.
Canterbury recorded the highest number of alerts during the five years, with more than 300, followed by the West Coast with at least 250 and Otago with more than 220.
DoC heritage and visitor director Cat Wilson said there were several factors driving an increase in alerts.
The department was facing rising costs from inflation while also seeing more severe climate events, such as storms and floods, damaging tracks and huts.
“There’s a lot more places that are vulnerable to flooding and land slips, and lots of tracks and bridges have been wrecked or blocked.”
DoC had to think about how safe parts of the network would be in the long term, and whether there would be more damage over time.
“They then have to make a difficult decision on whether it’s a good investment to keep spending in certain places, or move on and focus on other places.”
A DoC document released under the OIA described the department’s visitor network as “unaffordable”, saying it had only about 70% of the funding it needed to maintain the network.
In a statement, DoC said its visitor network consisted of at least 14,000km of tracks, more than 900 huts and more than 330 campsites, as well as thousands of structures and amenities.
It had about $63 million a year with which to maintain those assets, but the cost of keeping the network up to standard was about $100m a year.
The document outlines how, in addition to the increasing costs of maintenance and repair, DoC’s ability to recover costs from users is limited because of constraints under the Conservation Act.
It can charge only for facilities such as huts and campsites, which bring in only 10% to 15% of the total cost of the network.
Wilson said ageing infrastructure was adding further pressure.
Many huts had been around for a long time and were now coming to the end of their structural life, requiring significant repairs and replacement work.
Volunteers from community organisations such as Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) and Backcountry Trust were playing a major role in helping to maintain the network.
FMC president Megan Dimozantos said closures had become a “very live discussion” between DoC and recreational groups, particularly around tracks.
The word “closed” had a specific legal meaning under the Conservation Act and carried a high threshold.
FMC members had reported dozens of closures they believed did not meet that threshold.
“A law-abiding citizen will see a closed sign and not enter.”
She claimed DoC often had the mentality that people could make their own decisions about whether to use tracks.
Trampers needed more information about why places were closed and what conditions they could expect.
“There’s a lot of frustration there, as people are being told not to go into places where they legally can go.”
Dimozantos said FMC was working with DoC on how information was communicated to the public, including alternatives to full closures.
She believed signs warning that tracks were no longer maintained, or outlining hazards more clearly, could sometimes be more appropriate.
At the same time, FMC recognised that DoC was under significant financial pressure.
“We acknowledge they’re chronically underfunded, and we’re generally sympathetic.”
Wilson said DoC was working with FMC on how it signposted some of its closures.
Sometimes, while specific tracks were closed, the conservation land itself was not.
“We’re working on updating signage to reflect this.
“A track can be closed for a range of reasons, and we’re having to think about the language around this.”
There could be good reasons for discouraging people from some tracks, and inexperienced trampers might want to think twice about entering, she said.
However, if conservation land was not specifically closed, people were free to do as they wished.
Conservation land was closed only in extreme circumstances, such as directly after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Meanwhile, the Government announced proposed reforms to conservation law last week, which lay the groundwork for charging international tourists at some of DoC’s most-visited sites, and speeding up approvals for leases and permits.
The charges are expected to bring in an estimated $60 million a year to be invested in nature conservation.
Wilson said the changes would help to address DoC’s funding gap.
It had already been focused on generating more revenue from facilities such as huts and campsites, and hoped the reforms would allow it to expand charging at high-traffic locations.
Kate Rickard is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist for Newstalk ZB covering tourism, immigration, and general news. She previously studied journalism at AUT before joining ZB full-time in April 2025.