Truman Track, Coastal hiking trail in Paparoa National Park, New Zealand
Truman Track is a 600 m walking track that starts at Te Miko on State Highway 6, 3 km north of Punakaiki, and passes through lowland coastal forest of rātā, rimu and nīkau palms before emerging into flax and coastal turf. It ends at a clifftop viewing platform above mudstone overhangs, with Dolomite Point to the south and Perpendicular Point to the north.
The track is named after Jim Truman, owner of Truman's Department Store in Greymouth, who kept a holiday cottage beside it. In July 2019 a four-tonne block of Eocene sandstone sheared off an overhang near the beach stairway, closing the track for geotechnical assessment. In August 2019 a geotechnical firm used explosives to bring down around 70 tonnes of rock. Two further sandstone blocks fell on 28 June 2021, and stairway access to the beach was closed indefinitely.
The track is named after Jim Truman, owner of Truman's Department Store in Greymouth, who kept a holiday cottage beside it. An information board partway along highlights a mature mataī hosting a northern rātā that has grown in its crown and sent roots down to surround the trunk.
The track is 600 m long and takes about 15 minutes one way. The entrance is on State Highway 6 at Te Miko, 3 km north of Punakaiki's DOC visitor centre, with a small car park across the road. The path is easy and level, but the stairway to the beach is closed indefinitely after rockfalls, so the clifftop platform is the current endpoint.
The track is named after Jim Truman of Truman's Department Store in Greymouth, who kept a holiday cottage beside it. Near the start, an information board points out a mature mataī whose trunk has been surrounded and strangled by the roots of a northern rātā growing in its crown.
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