The Pike29 Memorial Track is a hiking track located near the

Paparoa National Park Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2 (166 sq mi). The park ranges from on or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separ ...

in the Grey District of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand. The track was created as a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

for the 29 miners who lost lives in the Pike River Mine disaster. The track is a branch of the

Paparoa Track The Paparoa Track is a shared hiking and mountain biking track located in Paparoa National Park in the South Island of New Zealand. The track was created as a memorial for the 29 miners who lost their lives in the Pike River Mine disaster. T ...

, the tenth Great Walk created. Both tracks were originally scheduled to open in 2018. The Pike29 Memorial Track opened in February 2024, four years after the Paparoa Track. The Pike River Mine portal features a memorial and interpretation centre.

Track history

In November 2010, a methane explosion at the Pike River Mine killed 29 men and entombed them. Family members of the men then worked with government and asked for a visitor centre to be built, and a new track built to Great Walks standard be constructed that linked the Pike River Mine site on the eastern side of the Paparoa Range with

Punakaiki Punakaiki is a small village on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located between Westport and Greymouth on , the only through-road on the West Coast. Punakaiki is immediately adjacent to Paparoa National Park, and is a ...

on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. This was to serve as a memorial but also as a source of income from tourism, compensating for the loss of income to the region of the mine. In his role as acting Conservation Minister, Nick Smith and family representatives announced on 29 January 2015 that the track would be built and that the land around the mine would be added to the existing

. The Department of Conservation had been tasked with a feasibility study and prior to that work having been completed, it was estimated that a track would be built. Some families regard the area as sacred and maintain that people should not cycle or walk across the mine site; they were opposed to the track construction. Smith confirmed the track on 15 November 2015, confirmed that it would go from

Blackball Blackball, black-ball, black ball, blackballed, or blackballing may refer to: * Blackballing, a rejection in a traditional form of secret ballot Film * ''Blackball'' (film), a 2003 film starring Paul Kaye * '' Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Stor ...

to Punakaiki, and that of new track would be built. It would connect existing tracks—the

Croesus Track The Croesus Track is a historic miners trail to the south of Paparoa National Park in the Grey District of South Island of New Zealand. The route crosses the Paparoa Range from Blackball in the Grey Valley to Barrytown on the Tasman Sea coast ...

and the

Pororari River The Pororari River, with an older spelling of Porarari, is a river of the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows northwest from its sources in the Paparoa Range, reaching the Tasman Sea at Punakaiki via Pororari Lagoon. Cave ...

Track—and a side track would be built to the Pike River Mine site. At the mine, a visitor centre and a memorial were to be built. It was confirmed that the main track could also be used for year-round mountain biking, which is unusual for National Parks but was favoured by the family group to maximise the tourism potential for the West Coast. It was announced that would be added to the national park. The side track to the Pike River Mine—named Pike29 Memorial Track—was to be long and at the time, it was expected for the tracks to open at the end of 2018. Two 20-bunk huts on the Paparoa Track were part of the proposal. The arrangements were formalised in March 2017 through amending the Paparoa National Park Management Plan as construction activity in a National Park is otherwise not permitted. Track construction was to start later that autumn and the huts were to be started the following summer, with a construction budget of NZ$10m. The name of Paparoa Track was chosen by the family group of the deceased miners. It was not until July 2017 (i.e. winter) that construction did start, as announced by Smith in mid-July 2017. The projected track opening had shifted to April 2019 by then. Three different companies were tasked with building sections of the overall project, with Nelmac Limited assigned to one section of the Paparoa Track (from the bushline above the Moonlight Tops Hut to the junction with the Pike29 Memorial Track) and the Pike29 Memorial Track. After the change to Labour Government later in 2017, part of the tourism support package announced in December 2017 by the Minister of Tourism, Kelvin Davis, went to Blackball in support of the tracks under construction. The Paparoa Track was officially opened on 1 December 2019 and after a major slip had been repaired, the track was fully open on 1 March 2020. However, some time after the

Pike River Recovery Agency The Pike River Recovery Agency, (Māori: Te Kāhui Whakamana Rua Tekau mā Iwa) was a stand-alone New Zealand Government department. Its stated aim was to work with families who lost loved ones during the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster to plan for ...

was established, the contractor was removed from the Pike29 Memorial Track. The contractor returned in February 2022. The track officially opened in February 2024.

Footnotes

References

External links

Paparoa Track and Pike29 Memorial Track, Department of Conservation
{{Grey District Grey District Hiking and tramping tracks in the West Coast Region Articles containing video clips Pike River Mine disaster