new track opening, north west south island

[wayno]

Old Ghost Road Trail...
doubles as mountain bike trail

When The Old Ghost Road is finished, it will be a four or five day tramp with few equals.

An expected itinerary for those with time is as follows:

Day One – 18 km of steady grade on the old benched track climbing to the Lyell Saddle hut (885 metres above sea level). Beech forest dominates. Lyell carpark to Lyell Saddle Hut; 4-6 hours.
Day Two – 6 km of graded climbing through cloud forest up to the tussock tops of the Lyell Range. Then it's 6 km of relatively level open-tops travel to 'Ghost Lake' and the stunning Ghost Lake hut. Unparalleled views of pure South Island majesty are yours with every stride. Lyell Saddle hut to Ghost Lake hut 12 km; 3-5 hours.
Day Three - Two sharp descents and ridge travel mark this day and it's predominantly downhill (800 metres of altitude loss) all the way to Stern Valley hut. Ghost Lake hut to Stern Valley hut 11 km. Note: as at September 2013 this section is an unformed 'marked route' and will take 4-6 hours to traverse on foot. It is not open to mountain bikes at this stage.
Day Four – With various destination options this day, it's on up Stern Creek (north branch) and through the strange but gorgeous open meadows of its catchment. At the twin lakes (Lake Grim and Lake Cheerful), the track switches back into climb mode for 'Solemn Saddle' leading to the headwaters of the Goat Creek catchment. Scrub and grass covered valleys form the way until the final couple of kilometres through bush to the historic Goat Creek hut. Stern Creek hut to Goat Creek hut 13 km; 4- 7 hours while it is an unformed 'marked route'. From the Goat Creek hut it's 8.5 km of flat walking down through the beautiful podocarp forest of the Mokihinui River South Branch to the 'Mokihinui Forks' hut (2 -3 hours). Then just a further 3.5 km, 1 - 1.5 hours down into the head of the mighty Mokihinui River Gorge to the Specimen Point hut. Stern Creek hut to Specimen Point hut 25 km; allow 7 - 11.5 hours while the section between Ghost Lake and Goat Creek huts remains as an unformed 'marked route' .
Day Five – 16 km of walking as The Old Ghost Road picks up the old miners' track hugging the true left bank of mighty Mokihinui River gorge with stunning river reviews. 4 - 6 hours.

http://www.oldghostroad.org.nz/information-for-walkers

[sef]

Great to see community development, especially out there and with DoC being pretty quiet/broke these days. The less mountain bike inclined might take a poke at the Needle/Haystack nearby, cool place.

[wayno]

i think its part of the national cycle trails, 50 million was available nationwide from the govt to develop cycle trails. they've had to spend massive amounts to put a cycle trail the 80k's through this country, they had to blast the track through a river gorge and put bridges in...