Courthouse Flat
Short Walks

Follow SH6 south from Nelson and turn right onto Motueka Valley Highway at Kohatu. Turn left onto Tadmor Valley Rd at Tapawera, then right onto Bushend Rd at Tadmor. The road name becomes Wangapeka River Rd at Matariki, and is gravel from here on. Several gates are encountered on the way; leave them as you find them. A key feature of access is the Dart River Ford; the ford can only be crossed when the river is low enough; check the Tasman District Council website beforehand. As the sign warns, do not attempt to cross when the water level is above the ford.

About 8 km beyond the ford you will reach Siberia Flat Campsite, then Rolling Junction, which is where the Wangapeka Track starts. Courthouse Flat is located a further 4 km along the road, at the road end.

Length	3.4 km return
Time Required	1 hr return
Uses	Walking
Physical Difficulty	Moderate

From the car park, cross the bridge over Granity Creek and turn right at the junction to follow the track a short distance to the next junction. At the second junction, keep left and follow the signs for Granity Pass Hut, which heads up the true right of Blue Creek.

Relics of the Blue Creek gold workings can be seen beside the track. Quartz reefs discovered here in 1869 triggered the Wangapeka gold rush and the rapid development of nearby Gladstone township. Although considerable effort was invested in prospecting and quartz mining throughout the district, the reefs ultimately proved disappointing and most operations were abandoned within a few years.

Branch right off the main track onto the resurgence track, which fords Blue Creek and follows its true left bank. The resurgence is located a short distance further on, at the end of this track.

Blue Creek Resurgence is one of New Zealand’s most significant karst springs. The creek emerges from a flooded cave system within the Mt Owen marble massif, where rainfall and surface water disappear into sinkholes and cave passages before flowing underground through the mountain. Dye tracing has reportedly linked the resurgence to Bulmer Cave System, New Zealand’s longest cave system, highlighting the scale of the hidden drainage network beneath Mt Owen. The resurgence itself is obvious compared with Riuwaka Resurgence; the entrance is blocked by boulders, and cannot be easily seen.

Return the way you came.

Length	4.2 km return
Time Required	1 hr 30 min return
Uses	Walking
Physical Difficulty	Moderate

From the car park, cross the bridge over Granity Creek and take Nuggety Creek Track to the right. A short distance later, take another right and cross the bridge over Blue Creek. You will pass an area of mining tailings before reaching a short side track on the right that descends to Lutine Pool, a deep pool in Nuggety Creek.

Beyond here, Nuggety Creek Track continues up the valley on what was once the pack track serving the gold workings. The track gently climbs as it sidles the hillside through regenerating native bush. Large areas of the original forest were burnt and cleared during the goldfield era.

Approximately 1.5 km from Courthouse Flat, you will reach Colossus Mine, one of several quartz workings developed on the Surprise Reef above Nuggety Creek. Multiple adits were driven into the hillside in an attempt to follow the gold-bearing reef, and remnants of a tramway and pack track can still be traced nearby. One of the mine drives remains open beside the track, providing a rare glimpse into the underground workings of the Wangapeka goldfield.

The track continues along the hillside to the site of Doran’s Mine. Here, a side track descends to Nuggety Creek, where the remains of a waterwheel and crushing battery can be seen. Doran’s Reef was regarded as one of the most promising quartz-gold discoveries on the Wangapeka goldfield. In 1871, the Doran’s Reef Gold Mining Company constructed an 11 m diameter waterwheel and crushing battery beside the creek, with ore transported from the mine by an aerial tramway. Despite the scale of the investment, a test crushing in November 1871 revealed the reef to be uneconomic, and the venture was soon abandoned. Today, the surviving machinery is among the most impressive mining relics in the Wangapeka Valley. The mine drive itself has since collapsed.

Return the way you came. Beyond Doran’s Mine, Nuggety Creek Track continues as an unmaintained route leading towards Culliford Hill and Nuggety Gorge.

Courthouse Flat was the centre of the Wangapeka quartz-gold rush of the late nineteenth century. Although prospectors had been working the area since at least 1859, it was Alfred Culliford’s discovery of a quartz reef in Blue Creek in October 1869 that triggered a rush of miners into the valley. By 1870, a small township of Gladstone had developed on the flats, complete with stores, accommodation and the courthouse from which the area takes its present name.

Several companies invested heavily in quartz mining, constructing crushing batteries at nearby Doran’s Reef and Colossus Mine. Despite early optimism, the reefs proved disappointing and the quartz-mining boom was short-lived. A brief revival of mining occurred between 1917 and 1920, but this also failed to establish a profitable industry. Although no major gold discoveries were made, the valley contains numerous relics of the goldfield era, including mine drives, water races, battery remains and the machinery associated with Doran’s Waterwheel.