Up to 20 large wilding pines, thought to be at least 40 years old, were uprooted on the Sunshine Bay walking track, near Queenstown, last month during "freakishly high winds", Queenstown Lakes District Council parks manager Gordon Bailey said.
A section of the track, estimated to cover about 1ha, has been closed since the Labour Day winds on October 24. The winds were estimated to have reached up to 130kmh, which caused widespread damage across the resort.
The "once-in-a-lifetime storm" came out of nowhere, with the winds toppling trees and power lines, blowing roofs off houses, lifting trampolines and throwing them into houses.
No injuries were reported.
On the Sunshine Bay track, many of the wilding pines had been blown over, while several other trees had either snapped near their bases, or had lost large branches.
Up to 100 trees had been affected by the wind and were now either blocking the track or listed as unstable.
After the council's community services committee inspected the track, a decision had been made to clear the block, which would stretch about 150m east, towards Queenstown, with the area to be replanted with native trees in the autumn, Mr Bailey said.
"We hope it might be about cost-neutral because of what we get for the logs, but it may be a few thousand.
"Work will start on Monday. We're trying to get the track open. It will take about two weeks."
Mr Bailey said the track would remain closed until it was deemed safe, but he warned against people going near tracks, or any trees, during such winds.
"Stay away from any tree [in high winds]. It doesn't matter how young or old the area. These freak winds can cause havoc to any tree, really."
