Lost family spend cold night in bush

Rescuers then had to work to locate the Matamata family by sending a signal to the man's mobile phone and waiting for the signal to bounce back. Photo / ThinkStock

A father and his three children spent a night in the bush after getting lost overnight while tramping near Matamata.

The family spent the night in a hut with search and rescue volunteers after being located last night.

Police received a call from the man's wife about 6pm on Friday saying the 48-year-old and his children, aged 13, 11 and 8, had not returned home from a bush walk.

Rescuers then had to work to locate the Matamata family by sending a signal to the man's mobile phone and waiting for the signal to bounce back.

Eventually police were able to locate the family 3 kilometres north of Wairere Falls.

"The family and the S&R team camped out in a hut overnight and the man and his kids were safely walked out of the bush this morning," a Hamilton police spokesman said. "The hut was well stocked, warm and dry and the kids got a decent night's sleep.

"It was a fortunate conclusion to what could easily have been a very difficult situation."