A trio of poorly equipped trampers sparked a costly search and rescue operation on the Cape Brett track in Northland.

The party of three set off to walk the track on Saturday afternoon, believing it would take two hours and planning to stay at a DOC hut that night.

But eight hours later, fatigue set in, one of the men sustained a knee injury.

It took Police Search and Rescue until the early hours of Sunday morning to find them.

Police say the men had only 10 packets of two-minute noodles, a small amount of water and one sleeping bag between the three of them.

The rescue effort cost between $5000-$10,000.