1 active Westland Tai Poutini alert
- CautionActive landslide zones on Copland TrackDo not stop in either of Copland Track’s signposted active landslide zones; take extra care during and after heavy rain.Official details
Overview
About Galway Beach
Why stop
- A rugged pebble coast and forest approach make the destination feel earned.
Heads up
- The 3½-hour return tramp follows a narrow unsealed drive.
Map
Where it is
Loading the Westland Tai Poutini map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide
Your drive to Galway Beach, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Westland Tai Poutini 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.
See the Westland Tai Poutini audio tourRecorded for this place
Gillespies Beach and the Failed Gold Dredge0:00 / 0:32
“Gillespies Beach is ahead, with dark sand, rounded pebbles and, when the clouds allow, the Southern Alps rising inland. Come for a shore walk and the old gold workings; strong surf makes it a poor choice for a swim.”
Plays as you drive up to Galway Beach in the Parkwolf Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Partnership in a Lichen
- The Lake That Powered the Dredge
- Kahikatea and the Butter Box
- Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery
- 49 audio storiesacross Westland Tai Poutini’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, Blue Duck, Kererū, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 31 trails, 53 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!!!!”
Guide
More about Galway Beach
A half-day for a remote beachGalway Beach is a remote pebble shore reached on foot from Gillespies Beach through the Miners…
Galway Beach is a remote pebble shore reached on foot from Gillespies Beach through the Miners Tunnel Track network. It is a walk destination, not a roadside stop: the signed Galway Beach Tramping Track is 6.8 km return and about 3½ hours. Take the turnoff just before the miners tunnel and return to the car park by the track.
Plan the drive and the walkGillespies Beach is about 21 km by road from Fox Glacier; around half the drive is on a narrow…
Gillespies Beach is about 21 km by road from Fox Glacier; around half the drive is on a narrow unsealed road. Keep left, drive slowly and do not tow. Dogs are not permitted on the track. Carry drinking water, insect repellent, sun protection and warm waterproof layers. This is a substantial outing, so allow for the drive as well as the walk.
Give seals roomGalway Beach has a seal haul-out in winter, but seals are not guaranteed year-round.
Galway Beach has a seal haul-out in winter, but seals are not guaranteed year-round. Give resting animals space and keep their route to the sea clear. Do not cross through the colony toward Gillespies Lagoon; return to the car park on the track.
The old goldfieldThe Galway turnoff branches from Miners Tunnel Track beside the miners tunnel.
The Galway turnoff branches from Miners Tunnel Track beside the miners tunnel. The wider Gillespies walking network holds more of the area's gold-mining story: a late-19th-century suction dredge, the remains of a 1930s bucket dredge, and a cemetery that recalls the difficult conditions early prospectors faced. Interpretation panels explain the old mining settlement.
Photograph the shoreThe coast is a sweep of grey pebbles and surf beneath forested bluffs.
The coast is a sweep of grey pebbles and surf beneath forested bluffs. At the beach, keep the pebbles in the foreground and the bluff or curve of shore in the frame; a higher view through coastal trees on the approach shows how the beach sits against the headland.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Westland Tai Poutini
89 sightingsKeaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
10 sightingsBlue DuckMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
80 sightingsKererūMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
38 sightingsTūīMost seen around 5 AMSighting map
10 sightingsNew Zealand FalconMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
28 sightingsYellow-crowned ParakeetMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Westland Tai Poutini. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
