Bannockburn walks
Track category
Walking track
Mountain bike - Intermediate
Description
Bannockburn Sluicings
Stewart Town
Stewart Town orchard
Bannockburn Sluicings walks
Explore the Bannockburn Sluicings on foot or mountain bike. There is a number of different loops, including a 7km loop (2hr return). View the historic relics that lie amongst the spectacular cliffs and pinnacles that have been sculpted by alluvial mining.
The loop track offers stunning views of the wider landscape and is suitable to anyone with moderate fitness. Once in the sluicings, you can see a maze of water races that fed precious water to various mining sites, the remains of the blacksmith shop, and the caves and rock shelters where the poorest miners once lived.
The remaining pinnacles were left by miners to mark the corners of miners' claims and show how much of the area the miners had sluiced.
There are many mining features to see including:
Menzies Dam - the largest miner's dam in Otago, fed by elaborate stone water races from Long Gully and the Carrick Range.
Stewart Town - view the remains of a miner's earth rammed houses. The orchard planted in 1906 still bear delicious pears and apricots.
Long Gully Bluff Track
This track offers interesting views of the back of the Remarkables and Hector mountains.
Getting there: From the Bannockburn Sluicings there is a marked tramping track to Long Gully Bluff Conservation Area.
Public access to Long Gully is restricted. The track is open to the public on Sundays and Mondays. The track is also closed for lambing from 1 October - 30 November. No dogs allowed. Moderate fitness is required.
Getting there
Bannockburn is 6km from Cromwell. After crossing Lake Dunstan, turn right down Felton Road and there is a DOC carpark 1800m on the left.
Activities
Dog walking
Historic sites
Mountain biking and cycling
Guides and commercial tourism providers