Arthur's Pass

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Maoris to get to the Westland greenstone deposits; but the swarms of prospectors and their heavily laden pack horses soon reduced the track to an impassable state.

In 1864, therefore, two surveyors, Arthur and George Dobson, set out on horseback through the valleys of the Waimakariri and Bealey rivers. Arthur found the pass that now bears his name, but the steep descent on the west side to the Otira River, and particularly the Otira Gorge, were difficult to negotiate.

In 1865 work began on the construction of a road over the pass. An army of almost 1000 workmen armed with picks and shovels hewed the road out of the rock, and within a year a coach was able to drive on it from Christchurch to Hokitika. Beef cattle, too, were driven over the pass to supply the building workers and gold miners.

In the 1920s a railroad line was laid broadly parallel with the road, bypassing the Otira Gorge in a tunnel 8.6km long.

After the railroad line was completed the camp that had accommodated the track layers and tuneless became an alpine holiday resort, from which beautiful trails lead into the majestic mountains. Here too is the national park visitor center, with displays on the natural history of this part of the Southern Alps and on the construction of the road and the railroad line.