Quartz Reef Point Walk
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.
Take a short walk to Quartz Reef Point, the best preserved example of herring bone tailings in the country.
Elevation
Cover mapped summer 2023/24.
Sampled from the national 8m elevation model. No LiDAR survey covers this route yet.
Description
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.
Getting there
The Quartz Reef Point carpark is beside the Cromwell-Lindis Pass Highway, by Lake Dunstan, between Cromwell and Tarras.
Weather
Forecast at the start of the track