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Paparoa Track, the 10.8 Km Pike29 Memorial Track Leads to the Site of the Former Pike River Mine

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Paparoa Track, the 10.8 Km Pike29 Memorial Track Leads to the Site of the Former Pike River Mine OPENING 2019 PAPAROA T R A C K and PIKE29 MEMORIAL TRACK Duration: Distance (one way): 2–3 days hiking 55 km hiking 1–2 days mountain biking 55.7 km mountain biking Great Walks season: All year PAPAROA ELEVATION PROFILE & TRACK GUIDE 1,400 m Ces Clark Hut 16 bunks TRACK 1,200 m 1,000 m Experience our newest Great Smoke-ho 800 m CK car park Pike River Mine A Walk – a purpose-built, shared-use Interpretation TR (Croesus Track) 600 m Centre L IA walking and mountain biking track R O 400 m EM within the Paparoa National Park on M 9 E2 the West Coast of the South Island. 200 m PIK This Great Walk crosses the Paparoa 0 m Range, taking you through alpine 6 – 8 hrs / 19.9 km tops, limestone karst landscapes and thriving rainforests. It provides breathtaking views across to the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana and over the Tasman Sea. From the Paparoa Track, the 10.8 km Pike29 Memorial Track leads to the site of the former Pike River Mine. The track is a memorial to the 29 men who were killed in the 19 November 2010 Pike River Mine disaster. Day 1: Smoke-ho car park to Moonlight Tops Hut The Paparoa Track is open all year and provides walking and cycling access through the remote and spectacular natural wilderness 6–8 hours, 19.9 km of the Paparoa National Park. This track is The Great Walk begins at its southern end at Smoke-ho car park challenging in poor weather conditions. near Blackball, about a 45-minute drive from Greymouth. Beginning on the existing Croesus Track, with remnants of the area’s gold The track is well marked and signposted, mining history, the track ascends through beech and podocarp but some sections may be steep and rough forest before crossing alpine scrub and tussock. You will be rewarded and the track could be muddy. This guide with expansive views of Grey River/Māwheranui to the east and the describes a 3-day hike for independent non- Tasman Sea to the west. Moonlight Tops Hut provides spectacular guided walkers travelling from Smoke-ho views across the Punakaiki River headwaters to the Pike Stream car park to Pororari River car park. escarpment and north to the Paparoa National Park. Duration: 2–3 days hiking 1–2 days mountain biking Distance (one way): ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: Croesus 55 km hiking Track, Jason Blair (katabatic.co.nz); 55.7 km mountain biking Moonlight Tops and Pike basin escarpment, Stewart Nimmo ((nimmophoto.co.nz); Upper Great Walks season: Pororari River, Jason Blair All year MAIN PHOTO: Moonlight Tops hut site, Stewart Nimmo COVER: Moonlight Tops and Pike basin escarpment, Stewart Nimmo greatwalks.co.nz 0800 694 732 car park hut interpretation centre Moonlight Tops Hut 20 bunks Pike ridge turn off Pororari Hut Pororari 20 bunks CK River RA car park T Waikori (exit for L Road IA hikers) R car park O EM (exit for M 9 Inland bikers) E2 PIK Pack Track junction 5 – 7 hrs / 18.7 km 4 – 5 hrs / 16.4 km Day 2: Moonlight Tops Hut to Pororari Hut Day 3: Pororari Hut to Pororari River car park 5 –7 hours, 18.7 km 4 – 5 hours, 16.4 km On day 2, open tops give way to alpine forest stunted by the harsh The Paparoa Track then descends and follows the upper Pororari environment. Along this section of the track you meet the junction River valley, just above the river itself, until it joins an old pack of the Pike ridge with the main Paparoa Range. Here the Pike29 track built to establish settlement in the upper valley. The track Memorial Track to the Pike River Mine site begins. Beyond the sidles a spectacular gorge and descends towards the coast junction, the Paparoa Track winds along the top of the escarpment through beech forest interspersed with northern rātā. From here where the landscape is strikingly dramatic with sheer drops and you will catch glimpses of the lower Pororari River Gorge. At stunning views down the Pike Stream in the east, stretching west the junction with the historic Inland Pack Track, walkers and to Punakaiki and north-west to Westport. About halfway to Pororari mountain bikers diverge: walkers follow the Pororari River Track Hut, you descend from the escarpment to walk through ancient which sidles the lower gorge with its striking limestone cliffs; podocarp forest under towering cliffs. The track then follows the mountain bikers descend into the Punakaiki River valley, ending spine of the Tindale ridge to Pororari Hut. As you traverse the ridge, at Waikori Road car park. Both pass through lush rainforest with look north to see the Lone Hand, a curious and gnarled outcrop of serene glades of nīkau palms. bedrock on the north side of the Pororari River. HIGHLIGHTS Air New Zealand Photo: Neil Silverwood partners with the (neilsilverwood.com) Department of Conservation to help bring native birds back to the beautiful Great Walks. 1 Explore the spectacular Pororari River Gorge, with its dramatic limestone cliffs, beech forests and glades of subtropical nīkau palms. Photo: Stewart Nimmo (nimmophoto.co.nz) 2 Sit back and enjoy incredible sunsets over the Tasman Sea from the Moonlight Tops Hut. 3 Explore the area’s unique mining history – gold on the Croesus Track, coal in Pike Stream, and uranium prospecting in the Pororari River. 4 Enjoy spectacular views of Paparoa National Park and the Tasman Sea to the west and the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana to the south from the top of the towering escarpment in the Pike basin. 5 CONSERVATION STORY The Department of Conservation works in partnership with the Paparoa Wildlife Photo: Baptiste Maryns Photo: Ben Norris Trust in the south-east ranges bordering the Paparoa National Park. Through this partnership, the Paparoa Wildlife Trust maintains a trapping network that effectively controls between 10,000 and 15,000 hectares of land. This programme, in conjunction with the 12.5-hectare pest- proof kiwi crèche on the Atarau plains and the Paparoa great spotted kiwi/roroa project, has delivered significant gains for kiwi. www.pwt.org.nz Photo: Lynne Maguire PIKE29 MEMORIAL TRACK Photo: Neil Silverwood (neilsilverwood.com) Duration: Distance REMEMBERING 4–5 hours hiking (one way): THE PIKE 29 2–3 hours mountain biking 10.8 km The 29 men killed in the Pike Moonlight Tops Hut River Mine disaster will be 20 bunks remembered in a number of 1,200 m Pike ridge turn-off ways. At the families’ wishes, 1,000 m CK the mine site and surrounding Pike River A TR 800 m Mine L IA area has become part of Interpretation R O Centre M 600 m E Paparoa National Park. The M 29 400 m KE 10.8 km track from the former PI mine site to the Paparoa Track 200 m 0 m has been dedicated to the 4 – 5 hrs / 10.8 km men and named the Pike29 Memorial Track in their Pike ridge turn-off to Pike River Interpretation Centre honour. An interpretation 4 – 5 hours, 10.8 km centre is being developed at the Pike River Mine site, From the junction of Pike ridge with the main Paparoa Range, the track heads east towards the Grey valley. The ridgetop offers views where displays will tell the into Pike valley and the Pike River Mine vent shaft to the north, story of the mine and the 2010 and bush-clad valleys to the south. The vegetation consists of low disaster. The mine portal and alpine scrub and dwarf, weather-beaten alpine forest that could have come from a scene in a Tolkien text. The track then drops down into associated memorial will be a the Pike valley through virgin podocarp and red beech forest to its place for quiet reflection. terminus at the Pike River Mine Interpretation Centre. MOUNTAIN BIKING The Paparoa Track and Pike29 Memorial Track are shared-use tracks for walkers and mountain bikers. This is the first purpose-built, shared-use Rules Great Walk to be constructed by the Department of Conservation in its You are not permitted to history. You can mountain bike the tracks year-round. take a mountain bike into any hut or shelter, or onto Can I do it? You can expect hut porches. The Paparoa and Pike29 Memorial Tracks are A well-formed 55.7 km track maintained to You are not permitted tough rides and not to be underestimated – to DOC Great Walk and Advanced: Grade 4 to take a mountain bike enjoy your ride you need to be fit and have mountain biking standards, with numerous off the formed and good equipment. Plan to spend 1 night on the swing and suspension bridges. designated route. track, although fitter and more experienced You will encounter changeable weather Electric bikes are not riders have 1-day ride options. conditions, including extremely cold allowed on the track. Track grade: Advanced (Grade 4) – A mixture temperatures, rain, wind and possibly Bikes must give way to of long, steep climbs, narrow track, poor snow; steep slopes and generally avoidable walkers. traction and obstacles that are difficult to obstacles; and track sections that are prone avoid or jump over. Generally exposed at the to flooding. You are responsible for: track’s outside edge. Most riders will find Refer to the ‘Know before you go’ section of Obeying the mountain some sections easier to walk. this brochure for more information. bikers code. The track is shared with walkers and other bikers – show Ride options respect for other users.
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