Photo: Mike and Lara Wolfe, CC0 
Photo: Mike and Lara Wolfe, CC0
Paparoa Track
A three-day Great Walk across the Paparoa Range on the West Coast, created as a memorial to the 29 men killed in the Pike River Mine disaster.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Smoke-ho car park, near Blackball
- Ends in
- Pororari River car park, Punakaiki
- Length
- 55 km
- On foot
- 3 days
- Countries
New Zealand
About the trail
On 19 November 2010, 29 men died in an underground explosion at the Pike River Mine on the West Coast of the South Island. The Paparoa Track was created with their families, the Department of Conservation and Ngāti Waewae as a memorial to them, crossing the Paparoa Range in Paparoa National Park, and the Pike29 Memorial Track can be added as a branch towards the mine site.
From the old mining district near Blackball the track climbs to alpine tops and runs along an escarpment of steep cliffs with views to the coast, then descends through limestone karst and rainforest and the gorge of the Pororari River to Punakaiki.
The Department of Conservation gives 55 km and three days for walkers, or two days for mountain bikers, for whom it is graded advanced and e-bikes are not allowed. Its three Great Walk huts, Ces Clark, Moonlight Tops and Pororari, must be booked in advance.