A group of trampers sat on a ridge in the Hanmer Range North Canterbury looking across the Styx River into the valley basin beyond.
The upper part of the basin was shrouded in mist but there it stood, black and mysterious, the Ghost. It must have been a day like this when the area was originally named Ghost Gully.
The people were members of the Mt Isobel Tramping Group (MITG) based in Hanmer Springs. This is when in May 2018 the decision was made to explore the area to see if it was feasible to create a network of tramping tracks to make this beautiful piece of our country available to the public.
Six months later in November 2018 MITG scheduled their regular weekly tramp to go into Ghost Gully and explore the area. It was found to have numerous interesting features together with stunning views and thus a project was born. MITG would create a complex of poled routes making Ghost Gully perhaps the best tramping option in the vicinity of Hanmer Springs.
The block of land in the Hanmer Range encompasses parts of Hanmer Forest Park and Molesworth Recreation Reserve. A fairly complex permission process was undertaken culminating in an Assessment of Environmental Effects being lodged with DOC Marlborough in January 2019.
Work began in earnest during that year. Voluntary labour was provided by members of MITG, and materials and helicopter support were financed by Hurunui District Council through the Hanmer Springs Recreational Track Network Group.
Over the next four and a half years many hours of work were put in by MITG members scoping and forming a complex of interconnecting poled routes, the prime tracks being named Ghost Spur Track and Ghost Link.
The end result is a design of poled routes that provide six differing options, each of which is a full day tramp. The tracks can be accessed from either Jacks Pass on Clarence Valley Road or Tophouse
Road about a kilometer before the Old St James Homestead. The options include two through tracks (which can be undertaken in either direction) and a loop return track from each entrance.
All the tracks are well marked with poles and tree markers and information signs are installed at track junctions. The two main entrances have detailed signs which include a drawing showing how all the options inter-link.
A shorter walk exploration of the area is possible from the Tophouse Road entrance by walking to Rocky Lookout with views up the Clarence Valley or walk further on to Kam Point which provides 360-degree views of the entire area. Rocky Lookout is reached in about 40 minutes and Kam Point in about 1hour 15minutes from Tophouse Road.
Born in May 2018 the project was completed in June 2023.
- Dennis Hall
