Parking
Start at the red gate on Jackson’s Retreat, reached past the tent sites from the property entrance off SH73. Parking details are not documented separately; arrange parking and day access with the retreat before arriving.
Overview
About Ngarimu Walking Track
Why go
- A compact heritage route to scattered remains of a West Coast gold operation.
Heads up
- A steady zig-zag climb, with route markers that may be intermittent.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Arthur's Pass map
Full mapElevation201–420 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Arthur's Pass alerts
- CautionFlood damage and rockfall risk on Harper Pass RouteFlood damage and an active slip affect the Harper Pass Route below Kiwi Hut and near Locke Stream Hut.Official details
- CautionFlood damage on route to Sudden Valley BivvySignificant flood damage makes the route to Sudden Valley Bivvy passable only when rivers are low.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Arthur's Pass Tour Guide
Your drive to Ngarimu Walking Track, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Arthur's Pass National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
The Giant Buttercup’s Rain Bowls0:00 / 0:31
“If you see big, glossy leaves holding little pools of rain on an alpine walk, look for Mount Cook buttercups. The leaves form shallow bowls and can grow wider than your hand.”
Plays on the road 0.3 km from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Arthur's Pass Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Rain Cape Made from Daisies
- What Makes Rātā Flowers Red
- The Eel’s Last Ocean Journey
- The Taramakau Pounamu Route
- 42 audio storiesacross Arthur's Pass’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, New Zealand Falcon, Blue Duck, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 49 trails, 59 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Ngarimu Walking Track
The quartz-mine returnNgarimu Walking Track is a 2.94-mile (4.
Ngarimu Walking Track is a 2.94-mile (4.7-kilometer) out-and-back from the red gate at Jackson’s Retreat, climbing through native rainforest and zig-zagging the old Battery Road to the quartz-mine workings. Allow about three hours for the return. This is a steady uphill heritage walk, separate from the shorter Ngarimu Waterfall Track.
Take the mine forkWalk past the tent sites to the bush-line gate, then take the left fork for the mine.
Walk past the tent sites to the bush-line gate, then take the left fork for the mine. Battery Road climbs in a series of zig-zags; follow that line back the same way. The property owner says markers may be intermittent, so keep a route map handy and resist wandering through the bush to look for remains.
What remains, and who can goThe end is a small, overgrown-feeling historic site rather than a restored exhibit: scattered…
The end is a small, overgrown-feeling historic site rather than a restored exhibit: scattered mining relics and former hut-platform areas sit among returning forest. Quartz was crushed here to recover gold. The precise date is unsettled: the workings are described as 1860s, while the Taipo company at Battery Road is documented in 1879.
Jackson’s Retreat confirms free use for its guests. Day-visitor permission and parking are not confirmed, so arrange both with the retreat before setting out.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Arthur's Pass
982 sightingsKeaMost seen around noonSighting map
39 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
190 sightingsBlue DuckMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
20 sightingsKākāMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
15 sightingsWekaMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
15 sightingsParadise ShelduckMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Arthur's Pass. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
