However, there will be no rest for the Wilson Contractors team, who will continue to develop one section of the trail at the upper Kawarau.
Wilson Contractors manager Steve Osborne said to hit the October 18 deadline, it was necessary to put a 3km "diversion" trail in place after the extent of historical slips on the 12km section of the trail was determined.
"Within the slip section, it was just impossible [to hit the deadline].
"We wanted to get it open all the way through ... that's why we decided to put the diversion in.
"It allows people to use the trail while we get it finished."
The diversion runs parallel to the upper Kawarau section of the trail on land owned by Remarkables Park Ltd.
After the upper Kawarau section has been completed - expected to be in about a month - the diversion will remain in place. RPL is planning its own walkway as part of a future development.
During the past three years, more than 100 contractors have been involved constructing the entire trail, 20 from Wilson Contracting - latterly working 7am-7pm every day, in sometimes atrocious weather, to get the job done.
Construction of the trail has also required extensive machinery - three 20-tonne diggers, one 12-tonne digger, an 8-tonne excavator, two 15-tonne rollers, five 25-tonne dump trucks and a water cart.
About 10,000 tonnes of loose material has been taken out and used as fill to create the trail, which has a maximum gradient of 10%, making it achievable for all levels of fitness.
Project engineer Giulio Chapman-Olla said the most difficult aspect of the project had been the material contractors had to deal with and the multitude of historic slips discovered.
"Every time you go within 100m from one point, you're into another historic slip or different material.
"It's just landslip material - when you cut into them, they want to keep slipping."
Mr Osborne said most of the trail had been surveyed from the air, so contractors did not have full information about what they would be working with.
"We didn't know fully what was here until we started digging ... we had to ... change the gear and the work fronts."
Queenstown Trails Trust chief executive Kaye Parker said a "trail shout" was on the cards once the trail had been fully finished - along with a celebratory drink for the contractors tomorrow night.
See today's Otago Daily Times for information about the opening.
