We are fast approaching winter and running out of time to experience the autumn colours of Central Otago. This blog covers several places around Wanaka, Arrowtown, Clyde and Alexandra, where the autumn colours are particularly intense.
To get to some of these locations, we took the Hawksburn Road between Clyde and Bannockburn, one of New Zealand’s particularly remote metal roads. Hawksburn Road has great views, but also long single lane sections where you may have to back up if you meet an oncoming vehicle.
Lake Wanaka
Everyone more or less takes the same shot of the Wanaka Tree. The variation is provided by the season, time of day, state of the lake, and your level of patience! These shots were taken early morning as the sun was coming up. The minute where the sun lights up the tree and the poplars to the northwest is especially lovely.
Arrow River and Gorge
Surely one of the best locations for autumn colours is around Arrowtown, beside the Arrow River and up the Arrow Gorge. Here, miners and settlers planted deciduous trees which have reseeded and become well established throughout the area. Unusual for New Zealand, it almost feels like a non-native forest, rather than a scattering of trees.
If you’d like to explore further, the Gorge Track as far as Sawpit Gully and Tobins Track is an excellent short walk in its own right, with a bit of gold mining history and views high above the river. You can continue the loops around Sawpit or Tobins if you have an extra 2 to 3 hours.
Arrowtown is also home to the autumn festival, normally around the third week of April.
Oxenbridge Tunnel Track
The Oxenbridge Tunnel Track is a cool, but easily overlooked, short walk. It’s great at any time of the year, but in autumn there’s the bonus of colour change and wild blackberries. The access road is in Arthurs Point on the southeast side of the Shotover River, immediately before the one lane bridge and opposite the jetboat facility.
To get there, follow the short metal road and park beside the river. Walk northwest along the edge of the river to find the Oxenbridge Tunnel and track. Follow the track to a viewpoint high above the Shotover Gorge – it’s an easy walk, but take extra care if you have young children as there are exposed cliff edges.
Alexandra Millennium Track
The Alexandra Millennium Track is part of the shared hiking and cycling trail system around Alexandra and Clyde. This section links the two towns on the west side of the Clutha River. The dominant features are the extensive deciduous trees that have grown near the river banks over the last 160 years, and the Earnscleugh Tailings.
These are a massive and extensive area of stored, 100-year-old tailings from gold dredging on the river and around the region. You can do an interesting loop walk over the tailings, which smells of the wild thyme that grows on the mounds of stone and sand.
Butchers Gully
Butchers Gully sits within the Flat Top Hill Conservation Area, just off the main highway to Dunedin and southwest of Alexandra. It’s one of several reservoirs in the area created by damming a gully. Initially it supplied water to Alexandra and the goldfields, but now it’s used mainly to support agriculture in the region. There is also gold mining history around the gully, which is submerged under the reservoir.
It’s naturally very dry in this part of Central Otago, but in autumn the extra golds and blue of the reservoir is especially pretty. You can take a short walk to the dam or longer walks (and bike rides) around Flat Top Hill.
Hawksburn Road
From Clyde, cross the single lane bridge over the Clutha to Earnscleugh Road. Almost immediately, you will see a sign for the Hawksburn Road. Take Hawksburn Road, stopping if you like after a few kilometres at a viewpoint to see the autumn colours. Note that this section is steep and narrow with blind corners, so take care.
If you keep going, you will hit Cairnmuir Flats, then a windy section that eventually links to Nevis Road and down to Bannockburn. In some parts of this section there’s no room to pass another car, so someone will have to back up. Having said that, it is unlikely you will see anyone else. There are several farm fences to go through so leave these as instructed, or as you find them. On the Nevis Road side, there is a 4WD only warning, but the road surface itself is good, at least when dry.
Like Nevis Road, Danseys Pass Road and the Old Dunstan Road, the Hawksburn gives you access to a remote, dry, rugged part of New Zealand that you would otherwise barely know existed.
Want more Central Otago trip ideas?
Check out our post on the ideal Central Otago winter road trip, our posts on Wanaka and Queenstown.