Sanctuary Circuit

From central Nelson, head up the Brook Valley along Brook St. Continue through Brook Motor Camp, following the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary signage. Just to the right of the sanctuary visitor centre and below the lower dam there is a car park. The circuit starts at the footbridge here.

Due to the steepness of the track, the circuit is best walked in an anti-clockwise direction (i.e. heading up to Jenkins Hill first, rather than Third House).

At the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary Visitor Centre, cross the bridge at the car park. Follow the track back underneath the bridge and along the fence. The fence turns to the left and heads straight up the base of the spur, and the track follows, climbing the very steep hillside through a series of wooden steps. It then connects to a 4WD vehicle track that runs alongside the fence line from here on, continuing at a reasonably consistent uphill gradient. After the first kilometre of climbing, you will have gained 285 m elevation (a gradient of nearly 30%). The track surface consists of clay and loose gravel, and is rutted in places, especially after rain.

A short section of slight downhill offers brief respite, then it’s on to the steepest part of the climb, where you will gain 100 m elevation in a little over 300 m distance. This section is challenging to climb, and even harder to descend, hence the recommendation to complete the circuit in this direction. Above here, the track enters beech forest, and the climb continues at varying degrees of steepness to the track junction that leads to Marsden Valley. Note that along here you will pass the geographic summit of Jenkins Hill (776 m), which is a trig located in amongst scrub, about 50 m off the fence line track. Jenkins Hill is named after Alfred George Jenkins, who opened a coal mine called Enner Glynn at the base of the hill in 1858.

After 3.5 km you’ll reach the junction with Jenkins Hill 4WD Road, which leads to the Marsden Valley track network. From this junction, continue along the fence line track that follows the broad, beech-forested ridge bounding the southern side of the sanctuary. Young silver and red beech readily regenerate along the cleared fence track and are periodically pulled out to maintain a vegetation-free corridor beside the fence. Prior to the ridge being cleared for the sanctuary fence in 2014, a tramping track followed much the same route between Jenkins Hill and Third House.

You’ll pass over the high point of the circuit (873 m) and from here the ridge is undulating though overall descending as it heads toward Third House. Some of the descents in these undulations are very steep, and at one point the vehicle track deviates from the fence to take a less-steep path.

At Third House, you have the option to continue downhill along Coppermine Trail, though it is much the same as the fence line 4WD track, as it runs directly parallel with the latter, 30 m upslope. The descent through here is gentle. The fence 4WD track and Coppermine Trail connect again at Four Corners, 4.1 km from Third House.

At Four Corners, the fence drops away into Brook Valley along Cummins Spur at a steeper gradient, and the 4WD track follows suit. At a skid site above Eureka Park, the fence turns to the left, and the last few hundred metres down to the visitor centre are a walking track rather than 4WD track.