Another cog in Queenstown’s active travel wheel is in place.
After seven years’ work, the Queenstown Trails Trust officially opened the new 13km Wharehuanui Trail, linking Arthurs Point and Arrowtown, on Saturday.
A second "missing link" trail, connecting Arthurs Point to Tucker Beach, on the other side of the Shotover River, is set to follow soon.
Trails Trust chief executive Mark Williams said the combined cost of the trails was about $9 million.
Half of the money had been provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, while the remainder was sourced locally, including from Central Lakes Trust, local philanthropists and donors.
Other trails in the extensive network followed rivers and lakes in the Wakatipu, but the Wharehuanui Trail opened up access to parts of the Basin where there was extensive conservation and restoration efforts under way.
This included a huge project led by Mana Tahuna to improve the quality of Lake Hayes, by focusing efforts on its main tributary, Mill Creek, which the trail followed to Millbrook Resort.
Mr Williams said the trail’s development also enabled the Whakatipu Wildlife Trust and Southern Lakes Sanctuary to gain access to the backcountry, allowing them to ramp up predator control efforts.
"We’re going to try to get a lot of traps along this trail that can be serviced and emptied quite easily.
"So you can start to see the corridors where the trail follows becoming these green corridors of restoration and conservation — it’s exciting."
However, there had been "some significant delays" caused by recent weather events, making access at present difficult.
"So I’m not going to hang my hat on a pre-Christmas opening date, but it’ll be later this year or early next year."
Features of that track included travelling through an historic mining tunnel.
Due to support from the Hugo Charitable Trust the tunnel was being restored and enlarged.
Each of the 110 planks on the new 90-metre Kimi-akau suspension bridge, across the Shotover River, were sponsored by supporters.
On completion, it will enable people to travel between Arrowtown, Arthurs Point and Frankton entirely on trails.
