Adams Flat Track
Alerts
Check the DOC website for current alerts and conditions before you go. This site gets current alert info from DOC, but is not an official source of information.
Walk to a replica goldminer's hut and the site of the Adams Creek Workings.
Elevation
Cover mapped summer 2023/24.
Description
Adams Flat
Time: 2 hr one way
Distance: 7 km one way
From the car park, follow the old bridle track (Fenian Track). Be aware that just under 4 km from the road end, the track passes across the face of a steep bluff (Maloney’s Bluff). There are no barriers and there is a cliff beside the edge of the track. Take great care on this section and keep children close to you.
Continue on Fenian Track to a clearing known as Adams Flat, named after John Adams, an Irish gold miner who died in his hut on March 2, 1882 aged 49. A replica of a goldminer’s hut stands in the clearing. The grassy area surrounding the hut is a pleasant resting place. Read about Adam's Flat Hut.
Adam Creek Workings and Water Race
Time: 2 hr 40 min one way
Distance: 8 km one way
From Adams Flat, the track to the Adam Creek Workings site is a further 40 minutes. It is from this point that the track standard changes from a ‘walking track’ to a ‘tramping track’ and you will require sturdy footwear as well as a reasonable level of fitness and experience.
Getting there
Leave Karamea on Oparara Road and follow this for 6 km to the lime works. Turn into Fenian Road and follow this to the car park at the end.
Know before you go
Be aware of rockfall and steep drops
Rock fall hazards exist on the lower Fenian Track, from the Fenian car park for 200 m along the track.
There is also a risk of falling rocks in other parts of the gorge.
There are steep drops beside the track in some sections. The largest is Maloney’s Bluff, where there is a cliff beside the track and no barrier.
Follow instructions on signs, take care and supervise children closely.
Weather
Forecast at the start of the track