Image: Adam Eason | Creative Commons
Quartz Reef Point Walk.
Quartz Reef Point Walk

Located in Lake Dunstan area in the Otago region

Take a short walk to Quartz Reef Point, the best preserved example of herring bone tailings in the country.

From the carpark, cross the road and and follow the marker poles to the right. This is through private property. At the top of the rise there's a gate into the historic reserve and the track leads to a viewing platform. From here there are views of the tailings and over to Lake Dunstan, Cromwell and the Pisa Range

These virtually pristine remains are the result of ground sluicing; channelling water to the head of a claim and flooding the working face. Larger stones and rocks were removed and stacked, row after row in a herring bone pattern. The washed material was then directed or shovelled to a sluice channel to separate the gold from the gravel.

For your own safety and the preservation of this remarkable site, do not attempt to walk on the stacked stone tailings.

The Quartz Reef Point carpark is beside the Cromwell-Lindis Pass Highway, by Lake Dunstan, between Cromwell and Tarras.