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The Poolburn Gorge is a
At the eastern entrance to the gorge, the tall Poolburn Viaduct is the highest bridge on the rail line, and is bridge No.69 starting from 
Shortly into the gorge, two tunnels have been cut through schist rock bluffs. Poolburn No.1 is long, and the curved Poolburn No.2 is the longest tunnel on the line at long. Torches are needed to walk or cycle through these tunnels (typically provided with hired bikes).
Both tunnels feature portals with bolstered schist slab facings, with the arches outlined in brick. The inside walls of the tunnels are lined with brick about into the tunnels; afterwards the walls are just the bare rock.
Shortly after exiting the Poolburn Gorge, the track crosses the Manuherikia River on the long Manuherikia Bridge No.1 (number 70 on the Otago Central Railway line). This concrete pier bridge is the longest on the line and was completed in 1903. It is one of only two curved bridges on the rail trail, the other being in Hyde.
In 1990, the railway line was closed from Middlemarch onwards, which includes the Poolburn Gorge section. The tracks were lifted, and later in 2000, the line was converted to a bike trail, which included re-decking both bridges with timber and re-surfacing the track with fine gravel.
The Poolburn Gorge section of the Otago Central Railway is the most popular section of this multi-day bike track. The gorge can be traversed by bike as a day trip from
The Poolburn Gorge is a gorge
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
located in the Central Otago
Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference".
The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...
region 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
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 ...
, 4 km east of the small settlement of Lauder
The former Royal Burgh of Lauder (, gd, Labhdar) is a town in the Scottish Borders in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Berwickshire. On the Southern Upland Way, the burgh lies southeast of Edinburgh, on the western edge of the Lamme ...
. The Ida Burn flows through the 2.5 km long canyon
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
across the Raggedy Range between the Ida Valley
The Ida Valley lies east of the Manuherikia Valley in Central Otago, New Zealand. At an altitude of around , the 40 km long flat and wide valley is a relatively dry region with cold winters and hot summers, much like the rest of Centra ...
and the Manuherikia Valley. There are no public roads through the gorge; only the track of the former Otago Central Railway
The Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway, now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway, was a secondary railway line in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
Construction
Construction of ...
, now used as the Otago Central Rail Trail
The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 150-kilometre walking, cycling and horse riding track in the South Island of New Zealand. A pioneering project for New Zealand, the successful rail trail joined the New Zealand Cycle Trail umbrella organisation i ...
, follows the river on the southern flanks of the gorge.
The landscape surrounding Poolburn Gorge is barren and dry, shaped by the typical Central Otago climate of dry hot summers and cold winters. The gorge cuts through schist rock bluffs, with the vegetation on the steep slopes consisting of tussock and hardy low-growing shrubs. Contrasting this, a ribbon of lush trees lines the immediate river banks at the bottom of the gorge. The Ida Burn joins the Manuherikia River
The Manuherikia River is located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It rises in the far north of the Maniototo, with the West Branch draining the eastern side of the St Bathans Range, and the East Branch draining the western flanks of t ...
shortly after it emerges from the Poolburn Gorge into the Manuherikia Valley.
The Pool Burn was known to southern Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
as ''Te Waipapapa o Karetai'' - the water container of Karetai, a Ngāi Tahu
Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...
chief.
Otago Central Railway and Rail Trail
The Poolburn Gorge section of the Otago Central Branch Railway encompasses two bridges and two tunnels, and gently snakes along the true left (south side) of the gorge. The construction of the railway line through the gorge took over three years, with up to 300 workers employed at the peak of construction around 1902.
At the eastern entrance to the gorge, the tall Poolburn Viaduct is the highest bridge on the rail line, and is bridge No.69 starting from Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. Built from 1901 to 1904, the long viaduct was the last big masonry pier bridge with steel trusses built on the line. It has the longest center span on the Otago Central Railway at long. Schist quarried from outcrops close by was trimmed and bolstered to construct the piers and abutments with the help of large gantry hoists to lift and position the stone slabs.
Shortly into the gorge, two tunnels have been cut through schist rock bluffs. Poolburn No.1 is long, and the curved Poolburn No.2 is the longest tunnel on the line at long. Torches are needed to walk or cycle through these tunnels (typically provided with hired bikes).
Both tunnels feature portals with bolstered schist slab facings, with the arches outlined in brick. The inside walls of the tunnels are lined with brick about into the tunnels; afterwards the walls are just the bare rock.
Shortly after exiting the Poolburn Gorge, the track crosses the Manuherikia River on the long Manuherikia Bridge No.1 (number 70 on the Otago Central Railway line). This concrete pier bridge is the longest on the line and was completed in 1903. It is one of only two curved bridges on the rail trail, the other being in Hyde.
In 1990, the railway line was closed from Middlemarch onwards, which includes the Poolburn Gorge section. The tracks were lifted, and later in 2000, the line was converted to a bike trail, which included re-decking both bridges with timber and re-surfacing the track with fine gravel.
The Poolburn Gorge section of the Otago Central Railway is the most popular section of this multi-day bike track. The gorge can be traversed by bike as a day trip from Oturehua
The township of Oturehua is in the Ida Valley of the Maniototo, in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand.
The settlement stands at 500 metres above sea level, some 25 kilometres from Ranfurly, to which it is connected by both road ...
to Omakau
Omakau is a settlement in Central Otago, New Zealand, located between Alexandra and Ranfurly on the northwest bank of the Manuherikia River. The smaller settlement of Ophir, New Zealand is located on the opposite bank, three kilometres to the ...
, or in 1–2 hours from Auripo to Omakau, or as a 3-4 hour return bike trip from Omakau. Local operators in Omakau and Oturehua provide bike hire and transport, with both villages offering accommodation options as well.
The bike track gently descends through the scenic Poolburn Gorge from east to west and takes in the Poolburn Viaduct, the two tunnels cut through schist rock, and the bridge over the Manuherikia River. Just after the second tunnel, two short walking tracks can be explored - one to the bluff above the tunnel portal, the other to the remnants of a construction worker village. After the rail trail exits the gorge, it offers good views over the Manuherikia Valley and towards the Hawkdun Range.
References
External links
{{coord, -45.053, 169.735, region:NZ-WTC_type:landmark, display=title Canyons and gorges of Otago