Parking
The nearest named parking is the Gillespies Beach campsite and car park. The cemetery spur begins on Gillespies Beach Road just before its signed turnoff.
Overview
About Miners Cemetery Walking Track
Why go
- A quick heritage stop with the cemetery as a clear destination.
Heads up
- At 270 m return, the cemetery is the draw; the walk itself is very short.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Westland Tai Poutini map
Full mapElevation4–12 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide
Your drive to Miners Cemetery Walking Track, 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 trailhead
Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery0:00 / 0:16
“The short path to Gillespies Beach Miners Cemetery is coming up, near the campsite turnoff. It's about five minutes return on a flat grass path, plus whatever time you'd like among the graves.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Westland Tai Poutini Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Gillespies Beach and the Failed Gold Dredge
- The Lake That Powered the Dredge
- The Partnership in a Lichen
- Kahikatea and the Butter Box
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Miners Cemetery Walking Track
A five-minute heritage stopMiners Cemetery Walking Track is a 270 m (0.
Miners Cemetery Walking Track is a 270 m (0.17-mile) out-and-back spur to the historic cemetery at Gillespies Beach. It begins just before the signed campsite and car-park turnoff; plan on about five minutes for the return walk, plus time at the graves. Add it if you are already visiting Gillespies Beach: the walk is easy, and the cemetery is the reason to stop.
A short grass pathThe route follows a flat grass path from the roadside to the cemetery.
The route follows a flat grass path from the roadside to the cemetery. The precise signpost is not mapped, so look for the short spur before the campsite and car park turn. Dogs are not allowed; other pets follow conservation-land rules.
A reminder of the goldfieldsThe cemetery recalls the harsh conditions early gold prospectors lived and worked in.
The cemetery recalls the harsh conditions early gold prospectors lived and worked in. It is one of several separate Gillespies Beach walks; other signed routes go to the dredge remains and miners’ tunnel.
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.
