Five years ago the then Minister of Conservation Nick Smith announced the building the of the Paparoa Track and Pike 29 Memorial Tracks. Although the Paparoa has been open for three years now the opening of the long awaited Pike 29 Track is set to open by the end of the year.
We have a quick recap for you with videos below of where we have come from to get to this point.
The Pike 29 Memorial Track will connect the current Paparoa track with the Pike River Mine site via Moonlight Tops.
This will be an important addition to the Great Walk, paying tribute to the 29 men who lost their lives in the tragic mining disaster in November 2010.
Building the Pike 29 Memorial track has been no small undertaking for the teams involved from Nelmac, who have persevered with the challenges of rugged, dense West Coast forest and all weather conditions.
Watch the video above from Tom Woodward for incredible footage of how the build unfolded (featured in the 2020 NZ Mountain Film Festival). This is set to be a stunning trail, with privileged views of the national park through a new vantage point.
Hikers and bikers will start in Blackball at the current Paparoa Track start, traverse along the moonlight tops until they arrive at Moonlight tops hut for a much-awaited rest. Continuing along the Paparoa Track for only a few more kilometres, hikers and bikers will reach the start of the Pike 29 memorial track. From here the ride continues for about 2km before the downhill begins!
Now get this, the Pike 29 memorial track from this point is 8.5kms no pedalling. Yes you heard right! Check out the full video alongside for hotlines and a wee teaser from the lads who put it together!
