Arnold River Dam Track

The track is accessed from Stratford Rd, which is a 10 min drive north of Moana (Lake Brunner) along Arnold Valley Rd, the main road between Stillwater and Moana. There is a parking area adjacent to the powerhouse.

The track begins at the Arnold Power Station on Stratford Rd, off Arnold Valley Rd. A bridge crosses the Arnold River alongside the pipe that carries water from the dam to the powerhouse, then the track heads right, entering kahikatea podocarp forest adjacent to the river. Most of the forest is not original, having been cleared in the early 20^th century, though impressive remnant trees remain. The track climbs a terrace to a viewpoint above the river, which looks down on the Arnold Dam, a weir dam that diverts water into the aforementioned pipe, which goes beneath the terrace on which you are standing.

The track continues along the terrace before descending back to the bridge you crossed at the start.

The Arnold River, originally known by its Māori name Kōtukuwhakaoka, commemorates a chief who, according to legend, was attacked and killed by a taniwha in nearby Lake Brunner. The river was renamed the ‘Arnould River’ by surveyor John Rochfort in 1859, with the spelling later simplified to ‘Arnold River’ by the mid-1860s. The origin of the European name is uncertain, but likely derives from a personal name recorded by early surveyors. Construction of the hydroelectric scheme on the Arnold River began in October 1929, and the power station was commissioned in September 1932. The installation comprised a concrete gravity dam with an earth-wing wall, an intake tunnel, penstocks, and two turbines.