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Fenian Track

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Fenian Track

The Fenian Track is a historic walking track in Kahurangi National Park, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand. The track was originally constructed as a bridle track, to provide improved access to a gold mining site in Fenian Creek. Gold was discovered in the creek in the 1860s, but the bulk of t

he West Coast gold rush was happening at more accessible claims further south, so it took nearly twenty years for mining to begin. Construction of the path began at Market Cross, Karamea, in 1876, but it was not completed all the way to Fenian Creek until 1904. Returns from gold mining here were poor; although mining revived in the 1930s during the Great Depression, even with government assistance it was not a profitable claim. The route of the track follows the true left of the Ōpārara River, cut into slopes above the river. It ends at a replica miners' hut at Adams Flat. The track passes through mixed beech-podocarp and beech forest typical of the area, and features the karst geology of the region. The forest is a mixture of old growth and areas that have been felled. Three species of southern beech are present: red beech (Nothofagus fusca), silver beech (N. menziesii), and hard beech...

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