Skippers Road is one of the most outstanding of New Zealand's surviving nineteenth century roads. Built in four stages from 1883 to 1890, and only a single lane wide, its construction had to overcome major physical obstacles before it could be completed. The most spectacular of these (Pinchers Bluff) required the removal of large amounts of rock to create a road platform. The road and the country it travels through are both spectacular and scenic. The road is most significant too as, in all likelihood, the only nineteenth century road that has remained in continuous use without major upgrading. The road was built to improve access to the upper Shotover River for miners, particularly for those seeking to install large machinery. It also provided a better means of access for those living in the canyon than the existing packtrack (1863). Mining's heyday was over by the time the road was completed but it continued to be used by farmers and tourists and those mining operations that lingered on in the twentieth century. Although much of the road remains as it did in the nineteenth century, the topography, harsh climate, widening, and regular maintenance have led to the loss of some significant features, including some of its stone walls, famous features intended to prevent vehicles from toppling off the road. Today tourism is the road's biggest user, with many people coming to see the road or use it as a means of access to bungy jumping operations or white water rafting. Skippers Road is an iconic New Zealand road of outstanding heritage significance.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Able to Visit
List Number
7684
Date Entered
12th December 2006
Date of Effect
12th December 2006
City/District Council
Queenstown-Lakes District
Region
Otago Region
Extent of List Entry
Registration includes the length of Skippers Road from Skippers Saddle (several hundred metres after the intersection with Coronet Peak Road) and the nominated conclusion of the road (Skippers Cemetery), a distance of 16.5 kilometres. The breadth of the registered item is the legal road - being 20 metres wide - although practicalities make this untenable where the road is very close to the river or on particularly steep hillsides. The registration includes the bridges, stone walls, revetments, road formation and associated features. This registration does not extend to what was once the full length of the road - from Arthurs Point to Skippers. The road between Arthurs Point (some regard the starting point as Queenstown) and Skippers Saddle is now under seal and much altered in many other ways. Also not included is the small section of unsealed road, now considerably widened, from the intersection of the Skippers Road and Coronet Peak Road.
Legal description
Road Reserve, Otago Land District
Location Description
Skippers Road runs from Arthurs Point (about 3 miles north of Queenstown) to Skippers Point however, only part of the road is included in the registration (Skippers Saddle to Skippers Cemetery).
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