The Glasgow Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

on the northern West Coast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's South Island. It is north of the Papahaua Range and its most significant river is the

Mōkihinui River The Mōkihinui River is a river located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, about 40 kilometres north of Westport. Meridian Energy had proposed the Mokihinui Hydro project on the river in 2007 but it was cancelled in May 2012. In ...

History of settlement

The Glasgow Range is largely devoid of settlement, though near the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

coastline in the foothills are small localities such as

Mokihinui Mokihinui ( mi, Mōkihinui) is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Mokihinui is on the Tasman Sea coastline north of Westport and is on the southern side of the Mōkihinui River's mouth, the third larg ...

and

Seddonville Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry. Geography Seddonville is in the isolated north of the Wes ...

. Upon the discovery of coal, the

Seddonville Branch The Seddonville Branch, later truncated as the Ngākawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction began in 1874 and it reached its terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonv ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

was built into the foothills in the 1890s, but mining activity declined in the 1970s and the railway closed beyond

Ngakawau Hector and Ngakawau are two lightly populated settlements located at the mouth of the Ngakawau River in the West Coast region of New Zealand. Both settlements are situated on State Highway 67 between Westport and Karamea. Despite a low populat ...

on 3 May 1981.

Geology and weather

Granite soil of poor fertility characterises the Glasgow Range. The climate is cool, humid, and cloudy. Rainfall averages 5,600–6,400 millimetres and is largely brought by westerly winds. Evaporation is low and snow is common during winter.

Wildlife

A rare mollusc, ''

Powelliphanta lignaria rotella ''Powelliphanta lignaria'', known as one of the amber snails, is a species of large, carnivorous land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Rhytididae. The eggs of ''P. lignaria'' are oval and seldom constant in dimensi ...

'', is found only on the western slopes of the Glasgow Range in the Seddonville area and is considered nationally endangered. Found throughout the range are

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

s, while

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

were numerous prior to helicopter hunting that was especially popular in the 1970s.Williams, "Subalpine and alpine vegetation", 319.

References

{{Buller District Buller District Mountain ranges of the West Coast, New Zealand