Features
The 1085 hectares of Bendigo's adjoining historic and scenic reserves are popular visitor sites. They provide easy and interesting opportunities for day trips, walks and rambling around relics of our gold mining past.
Bendigo Scenic Reserve
The Bendigo Scenic Reserve has a uniquely terraced band of kānuka, along with unequalled views of the Upper Clutha Basin and the farmland and vineyards on the slopes and valleys below. The recently formed Kānuka Loop Track circumnavigates the Chinaman's Creek catchment and provides a wonderful opportunity to have a longer walk in a shrubland environment - a rare experience in Central Otago.
Bendigo Conservation Area (1980 ha)
This is a high and isolated area with all the natural features of Otago's alpine tussock land. It also has panoramic views west to the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana and east to the Otago hinterland. Spanning the crest of the Dunstan Mountains, its highest point is Mount Apiti at 1509 metres. This area provides plenty of good recreational opportunities: mountain biking, hunting, walking, cross-country skiing and 4WD driving along the crest.
Ardgour Conservation Area
Straddling the ridge line of the Dunstan Mountains in the Thomsons Saddle area, Ardgour's 303 hectares gives access to interesting walks along the tops to Mount Kamaka at the northern end of the conservation area. This is a remote and isolated area but well worth a visit if you want a mountain-top walk with great views of Central Otago and its surrounding ranges. Mountain biking and cross country skiing is also possible up here.
Apart from the Bendigo Historic Reserve, which was private protected land, the conservation area has become public land following tenure review of Bendigo and Ardgour Stations. The Bendigo Conservation Area is still leased and grazed by Bendigo Station as part of their high country farming operation.
Flora
Slim snow tussock, Dunstan Mountains
The high Dunstan Mountains contain a rich diversity of short tussock grasslands dominated by Poa colensoi and Festuca novae-zelandiae and some snow tussock (Chionochloa rigida), as well as cushion vegetation communities at higher altitudes.
Lower down in the scenic reserve area, the stand of kānuka (Kunzea ericoides), is one of the few significant remnants of its type in Central Otago. The kānuka has regenerated and is probably no more than 140 years old as the original stands were used by miners for building materials and firewood. Ground cover vegetation in the Bendigo Scenic Reserve after 140 years of burning, mining and rabbit infestation is sparse. It grows short tussock, scabweed (Raoulia australis), and a wide range of introduced weeds - predominately briar rose (Rosa rubiginosa).
The conservation area is now bounded on the lower edge by vineyards that are gaining an international reputation. A lack of water has always hindered development in this region. Now that irrigation systems have been established here the land has become much more productive.
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