Enjoy the native birds, bush and plant life at this fascinating heritage site where gold was first discovered. 

Follow Gabriel’s Gully Road to Gabriel’s Gully where you will be able to park your car. Detailed walking maps for walks throughout the region are available from the Tuapeka Goldfields Museum & Visitor Centre.

Gabriel's Gully Interpretive Walk

From the carpark follow the track up the hill to traverse a fault scarp (an exposed fault line unearthed by mining in the gully) and follow several water races uphill. You will pass the site of a raceman's cottage, Pollands Dam and a rusty sluice pipe. 

Water was piped in from as far afield as Waipori and stored in the many dams in the area to rush through the water races and sluice pipes operated by the racemen to blast the rock faces for gold. 

The track then descends the face providing views across the gully, to the elevator pond and beyond to the tent sites of hundreds of miners during the rush and later of the mine office. 

You will then enter the regenerated manuka forest and wander amongst remnant stacks of conglomerate (gold bearing) rock before crossing an open paddock to an intersection.

From here you can turn right to visit the remains of the North of Ireland stamper battery or turn left to visit another dam and walk through the forest to the Great Extended Mine shaft.

After seeing the mine shaft wander back to the carpark through a gully and past the mines rusty safe which still remains on site. The gully has visible remains of claim intersection stacks, the piles of conglomerate each miner left to ensure they did not upset their neighbour. 

Know Before You Go

Distance: 2.8km loop

Duration: 1 hour 30 min return

Difficulty: Easy - track is mostly formed and clearly signposted. There are some steep sections.

Restrictions: Dog must be leashed.

Greys Dam Picnic Area

Drive past the turn off to Gabriel's Gully carpark to reach Greys Dam. The still water of the dam reflects the vibrant colour of the surrounding vegetation, providing a great backdrop for picnics on one of the picnic tables or games of backyard cricket in the picnic area. This calm seemingly gentle dam once provided hydraulic pressure to shift entire hillsides. 

Pan for Gold

You can only fossick for gold in the designated area. Only hand-held tools are allowed. More on gold fossicking areas and rules can be found on the Department of Conversation's website.

Copy credit: Department of Conservation