The Rock and Pillar Range of high hills is located in the

Maniototo The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Otago, New Zealand. The region roughly surrounds the upper reaches of the Taieri River and the Manuherikia River. It is bounded by the Kakanui Range to t ...

, an area of inland

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

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 ...

. They are surrounded by the

Taieri River The Taieri River is the fourth-longest river in New Zealand and is in Otago in the South Island. Rising in the Lammerlaw Range, it initially flows north, then east around the Rock and Pillar range before turning southeast, reaching the sea sou ...

, which has its source in the range, flowing out across the

scroll plain A scroll plain occurs where a river meanders across an area with a very low gradient, usually with a fairly continuous discharge. In addition to meanders, scroll plains are also characterised by many oxbow lakes. See also *Strath A strath is a ...

Paerau Paerau is a small settlement in inland Central Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is located in the Strath Taieri, the upper valley of the Taieri River, at the foot of the Rock and Pillar Range. "Paerau" is a Māori-language name meaning "one ...

, before almost doubling back on itself at Waipiata and flowing back along the other side through the Strath-Taieri. The town of

Middlemarch ''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, ...

lies close to the Taieri to the east of the range, and

Patearoa Patearoa is a small settlement in inland Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is located 20 kilometres southwest of Ranfurly, in the Maniototo The Maniototo Plain, usually simply known as The Maniototo, is an elevated inland region in Ota ...

lies to the northwest. The Rock and Pillars are a horst range, caused by movement on two parallel faults uplifting the area in between. Thus, the range is characterised by a very flat top, with steep

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

s on either side. The

Great Moss Swamp The Great Moss Swamp (also known as the Loganburn Reservoir) is located in Otago, New Zealand. It lies in the Maniototo, close to the former gold mining route of the Old Dunstan Road, 85 kilometres to the northwest of Dunedin city centre. It is c ...

lies on the upper surface of the range. There is a persistent and highly unusual cloud formation associated with the range. This strange cloud formation, found only in one or two places in the world, is more or less stationary and is called the

Taieri Pet Taieri may refer to several features in the Otago Region of New Zealand: *Taieri River * Strath Taieri, a glacial valley and river plateau *Taieri Gorge *Taieri Plain *Taieri Island / Moturata, an island in the river mouth *Taieri Mouth, a village a ...

by the local inhabitants. It is formed by high north-westerly winds being forced upward over the Rock & Pillar range
Big Hut
situated near the summit of the range, is available for public use.

Summit Peak

The range takes its name from the rock formations that cover parts of it. The highest point in the range is Summit Peak or Summit Rock at . Several lower points include Stonehenge and McPhee's Rock .

Fauna and Flora

The nationally endangered

Burgan Skink The Burgan skink (''Oligosoma burganae'') is a nationally endangered species of skink native to New Zealand. It was described from a specimen found near the Burgan Stream, in the Rock and Pillar Range, Central Otago. Appearance The Burgan ski ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Rock and Pillar range. This range is also an area of narrow-range

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

for New Zealand endemic moths. The moth species ''

Ichneutica schistella ''Ichneutica schistella'' is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. Taxonomy This species was first described by Robert Hoare in 2019. The holotype specimen, held at the Otago Museum, is male and was collected in Decemb ...

'' can only be found in this area.

References

Mountain ranges of Otago Horsts (geology) {{Otago-geo-stub