Blue Spur Bushwalk
Old gold workings, wild forest and a deep rock-cut water race that carries on much farther than we ever expected.
Current track information specifically notes the narrow deep race cut into rock and the orange triangle markers.
This felt like disappearing into an old goldfield the forest had taken back.
Blue Spur felt completely different from the more polished short walks we had already done on the West Coast.
Once we entered the forest, some sections of the route were easy to follow, while others became much rougher and less obvious. There were places where we genuinely stopped and looked around to figure out where the track went next.
That made the bright orange trail markers surprisingly important. They stood out brilliantly against all that green, and spotting another one ahead was often the reassurance we needed that we were still going the right way.
What made the place fascinating was knowing this quiet forest was once busy gold-mining ground. Tunnels, trenches, stone walls and other workings are still here, but moss, ferns, roots and trees have grown back around almost everything.
Short enough for an afternoon. Wild enough to feel like exploring.
Current track information and historical sources were rechecked on 7 September 2026.
Current Plan My Walk information places the car park about 8 km from Hokitika.
Current Plan My Walk listing.
Current regional walking information.
Plan My Walk's current classification.
Roots, stone, uneven ground and plenty of ups and downs.
Current track guidance also tells walkers to follow the orange markers.
A deep old mining race cut directly through the rock.
DOC says this is not a DOC-managed track.
A recent DOC conservation report says the Blue Spur walkway is on conservation land, but there are no DOC-managed tracks or facilities here. The walkway is maintained and used by the local community. That makes following current local information and onsite signage particularly important.
This was much more of a wild-forest track.
When we walked it, parts of the route felt barely maintained, and not every section was immediately obvious.
Some paths were clear and easy to follow. Others disappeared into roots, leaves, rock and thick vegetation.
There were plenty of ups and downs along the loop, with uneven footing and places where we slowed down simply to figure out where the trail continued.
That was actually part of what we liked about it. Once we were inside the forest, it felt like we were properly exploring rather than following a perfectly groomed walking path.
The forest kept revealing the old shape of the ground.
In places the trail climbed straight over exposed rock, with water running down the same surface we were walking on.
Wet rock, roots and leaf litter made good footwear feel worth having.
Even when we stopped walking, it was not quiet. We heard plenty of beautiful bird calls through the trees, mixed with dripping water and the sound of the bush around us.
Thousands of miners once worked through these ridges.
The quiet bush we walked through looks nothing like the goldfield that occupied Blue Spur in the 1860s.
Hokitika Museum records a major rush beginning in April 1865. Around 1,500 miners rushed to trace the Ho Ho Lead, and over the following ten months nearly every ridge of the Blue Spur Range was shafted or tunnelled.
By mid-1866, the population of the Ho Ho field was estimated at about 2,500 people.
What struck us most was how completely the forest has reclaimed the place. This was once busy ground cut through with tunnels, trenches, water races and built stone walls.
Around 1,500 miners rushed to trace the Ho Ho Lead.
Hokitika Museum says nearly every ridge was shafted or tunnelled over the following ten months.
Chinese miners were working tunnels around Blue Spur by the later 1860s, with some remaining in the area for decades.
Mining remains are still here, but many are now buried beneath regenerating bush.
These are mining features, not natural caves.
Some of the openings along the route look like caves at first glance.
They are part of the old goldfield. Miners cut tunnels, shafts, channels and races into the landscape while working the buried leads.
Today many of those features are half-hidden by the forest, which made finding them feel like discovering pieces of the old site.
We explored some of the smaller openings during our visit. They were wet, dark and apparently very popular with wētā and spiders. The video can keep the rest of that experience.
Then the forest started showing off the mushrooms.
We found colours on this trip that we do not remember seeing on our other New Zealand walks.
We are deliberately not assigning species names from appearance alone. Fungi can be difficult to identify accurately from photographs, but finding these colours was one of the small surprises of our walk.
Those orange markers became our best friends.
In the clearer sections, following Blue Spur was straightforward. Then the path would disappear into rougher forest and we would start hunting for the next flash of orange.
More than once we wondered whether we had wandered off the route, only for another marker to appear farther ahead.
Current Plan My Walk information also specifically tells walkers to follow the orange triangle markers, so this was not just us needing extra reassurance.
We followed them through wet bush, over rock, across this little timber bridge and eventually straight into the strangest section of the loop.
HOW FAR
DOES THIS
THING GO?
Much farther than we expected.
We thought this might be one short squeeze between the rocks. Instead, the old race carried on through the forest with high moss-covered walls rising around us.
The trench twisted ahead, opened up in places and then narrowed again. Every time it looked like it might finish, it seemed to keep carrying on.
Eventually it squeezed tight enough that we had to turn sideways to move comfortably through it.
Deep, narrow and much longer than it looks.
This was the part of Blue Spur we kept talking about afterward.
The walls are solid rock, green with moss, and the trench continues much farther through the forest than a single photograph can really show.
In the tightest places it gets close to shoulder width.
If tight spaces bother you, this is the section worth knowing about before you go.
Gold is only one chapter of this area.
Blue Spur sits within the wider Arahura area, a landscape with deep importance to Poutini Ngāi Tahu.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu identifies the Arahura Valley as one of the principal traditional sources of pounamu and a place of particular significance to Poutini Ngāi Tahu.
That history long predates the nineteenth-century gold rush that later transformed Blue Spur.
Wear shoes you trust and keep watching for orange.
This is one of those short walks where the distance does not tell you much about the footing or navigation.
Current track guidance warns that parts can be slick or muddy.
They are part of the current route guidance and were extremely useful during our visit.
Historic shafts, drops and old workings remain throughout the area.
Current track information specifically identifies a narrow deep race cut into rock.
DOC says this walkway is not a DOC-managed track. Follow current onsite information.
We used one when looking into darker mining openings along the route.
Track and access information rechecked 7 September 2026.
Is Blue Spur Bushwalk good for families?
Our family loved it, but this was definitely the more rugged kind of short walk.
More attention required
Wet rocks, roots, large steps and uneven ground made us slow down in places.
Keep looking for orange
Some paths were obvious. Others had us checking carefully for the next marker.
Know about the water race
The narrow section could be uncomfortable for someone who strongly dislikes confined spaces.
Something constantly changes
Tunnels, trenches, stone walls, fungi, rock cuts and trail markers kept us curious.
Our day was wet
The ground conditions described here are what our family encountered on our visit.
Rugged, strange and worth exploring
The disappearing trail, mining remains and ridiculously long rock race made this feel like genuine exploration.
This place makes more sense once you watch us try to follow it.
The page gives you the history and practical information. The episode keeps the reactions, route-finding moments and the point where we realise that orange marker really does mean this strange trench is the trail.
Without question.
Blue Spur felt like diving into a piece of the West Coast that nature had almost taken back completely.
This was once busy mining ground, cut through with tunnels, trenches, races and built stone walls. Now the forest has grown over it so thoroughly that pieces of the old goldfield appear almost unexpectedly through the bush.
Add the rougher trail, bird calls, orange markers, wet rock, strange mushrooms and that long moss-covered trench, and this became one of the most memorable short loops of our West Coast trip.
Blue Spur Bushwalk FAQ
How long is Blue Spur Bushwalk?
How difficult is Blue Spur Bushwalk?
Is Blue Spur a DOC track?
Is the Blue Spur track easy to follow?
Where does Blue Spur Bushwalk start?
Is the narrow rock passage really part of the trail?
How long is the narrow water race?
Is Blue Spur Bushwalk suitable for families?
Should I wear hiking shoes?
Are the tunnels natural caves?
Current track length, time, grade, trailhead information, orange markers and track-condition guidance were checked with Plan My Walk. Current conservation-land and track-management information was checked with DOC. Gold-mining history was checked with Hokitika Museum. Arahura cultural context was checked with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Comments about track maintenance, navigation, wet ground, bird sounds, family difficulty and how the walk felt describe our own visit.