Paparoa Track, Great Walk hiking trail in Grey District and Buller District, New Zealand.
Paparoa Track is a multi-day hiking trail on the South Island of New Zealand, running through coastal rainforest, limestone formations, and open ridgelines overlooking the Tasman Sea. The route is marked throughout and can be walked in either direction, with huts placed at intervals along the way.
The trail follows corridors used by 19th-century gold miners when the region was opened up for resource extraction, and sections of those old workings are still visible in the landscape. The track was also created as a living memorial to the 29 men who died in the Pike River Mine disaster in 2010.
The track crosses land that the Poutini Ngāi Tahu, the local Māori people of the West Coast, have traveled and used for generations to gather food and greenstone. Some of the native plants visible along the route, such as harakeke and tree ferns, were used in traditional weaving and cooking.
Weather on the South Island's West Coast can change quickly, so waterproof gear and a check of conditions before setting out are both worth the effort. The three huts along the route need to be booked in advance, and the trail is generally accessible to walkers with a reasonable level of fitness.
The Paparoa Track is one of the few routes in New Zealand where a walker passes from coastal nikau palms into alpine grassland within a single day on the trail. That shift between two completely different plant worlds happens over a short distance, which makes it noticeable even to casual observers.
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