State Highway 8 is one of New Zealand's eight

national highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

. It forms an anticlockwise loop through the southern scenic regions of the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest suc ...

and

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 ...

, starting and terminating in junctions with

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

. Distances are measured from north to south. For most of its length SH8 is a two-lane

single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...

, with at-grade intersections and property accesses directly off the road, both in rural and urban areas.

Route

Main route

The highway leaves SH1 at

Washdyke Washdyke is an industrial suburb in the north of Timaru, in south Canterbury, New Zealand. State Highway 1 passes through Washdyke on the way north out of the city. The northern terminus of State Highway 8 is in Washdyke. Washdyke is home of ...

, an industrial suburb of

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, travelling initially northwest through Pleasant Point then continuing to the town of Fairlie. From here the route tends westward and rapidly increases in altitude, passing the southern end of the two great Mackenzie Basin lakes of Tekapo and Pukaki. From Pukaki the highway turns southwest across the upper reaches of the

Waitaki Valley The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of the ...

, passing through the former

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

service town of

Twizel Twizel () is the largest town in the Mackenzie District, in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. The town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme. Today, Twizel is a ser ...

and

Omarama Omarama is a small town (population 291 at 2018 census) at the junction of State Highways 8 and 83, near the southern end of the Mackenzie Basin, in the South Island of New Zealand. Omarama is in the Waitaki District, in the southern Canterbu ...

before again climbing to cross the

Lindis Pass Lindis Pass (elevation 971 m) is located in the South Island of New Zealand. A carpark at the top of the pass provides access to a viewpoint and two short trails to other viewing spots. Lindis Pass lies between the towns of Cromwell (78km, 55 mi ...

, which, at 971 metres, is the highest point on the highway's path. The highway winds along the valley of the

Lindis River The Lindis River is found in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It is a tributary of the Clutha River / Mata-Au, flowing south for through the Lindis Pass, site of the main inland road route between Otago and the Mackenzie Basin in Canterbu ...

, reaching the upper

Clutha River The Clutha River (, officially gazetted as Clutha River / ) is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the P ...

not far from Tarras. From here, the highway runs close to the eastern shore of the man-made

Lake Dunstan Lake Dunstan is a man-made lake and reservoir in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake was formed on the Clutha River as a result of the construction of the Clyde Dam, filling in four controlled stages beginning in April 1992 and completed ...

before passing the historic town of

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

. The highway turns south as it travels through the Cromwell Gorge passing the country's third largest hydroelectric dam, the Clyde Dam at

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

. The highway continues along the Clutha Valley through the town of

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

and past Lake Roxburgh to the town of

Roxburgh Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...

. Much of this part of the highway's journey is past fruit orchards, and historic gold-diggings from the

Central Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

. From Roxburgh, the highway turns southeastward, passing Ettrick, Raes Junction and

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

, where it turns away from the Clutha, before reaching

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, close to the original strike in the

. From here, the highway continues past

Waitahuna Waitahuna is a small rural hamlet in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is from Lawrence. In the 19th century, the town thrived after the discovery of gold. The Waitahuna Gully Miner's Monument commemorates this discovery and ...

and the twisting

Manuka Gorge Manuka Creek is a locality in Otago, New Zealand, on the banks of the Manuka Stream (also often called Manuka Creek), a tributary of the Tokomairiro River. It is located a short distance to the east of New Zealand State Highway 8, State Highway 8 ...

, reaching the plain of the

Tokomairaro River The Tokomairaro River is located in Otago, New Zealand. It flows southeast for some 50 kilometres (30 mi), reaching the Pacific Ocean at Toko Mouth 50 kilometres (30 mi) south of Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-la ...

at Clarksville, three kilometres south of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

Spur sections

Deadmans Point Bridge Lake Dunstan Cromwell

State Highway 8 has two spurs: State Highway 8A and State Highway 8B. These two spurs connect the highway with State Highway 6, which lies on the western bank of

. State Highway 8A runs for 23 km from SH 6 at Luggate to connect with SH8 close to Tarras. State Highway 8B runs for just 2.6 km from SH8 at Deadmans Point across the lake to the town of

. SH 8B forms part of the main route between Queenstown and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Route changes

The course of SH8 between Clyde and Tarras was substantially altered during the 1980s as part of the construction of the Clyde Dam, which flooded much of the Cromwell Gorge, including the former route of the highway. A completely new section was built between Clyde and Cromwell; for SH8B the old single-lane bridge crossing the Clutha was replaced with a new two-lane bridge approximately 1.5 km to the north.

History

The southern end of SH8 between Clarksville and Cromwell roughly follows the route taken by many miners and prospectors during the

Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

of the 1860s. Many of the important sites of the gold rush lie close to the Highway and the

Kawarau Gorge The Kawarau Gorge is a major river gorge created by the Kawarau River in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The towns of Queenstown and Cromwell are linked by through the gorge. The gorge begins some 30 kilometres from Queen ...

which extends to the northwest from Cromwell. These include the town of Lawrence, which was the hub of prospecting around the original gold strike at

Gabriel's Gully Gabriel's Gully is a locality in Otago, New Zealand, three kilometres from Lawrence township and close to the Tuapeka River. It was the site of New Zealand's first major gold rush. The discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully by Gabriel Read on ...

. The former

Roxburgh Branch The Roxburgh Branch was a branch line railway built in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island that formed part of the country's national rail network. Originally known as the Lawrence Branch, it was one of the longest construction pr ...

rail line ran roughly parallel with the highway's southern course for much of its length.

Statistics

In 2006, SH8 had an annual average daily traffic volume (AADT – daily estimate) of between 1,188 vehicles at Bendigo, and 4,897 vehicles on the Clyde side of Alexandra. Over the eleven sites measured, between 9.0% and 15.3% of the vehicles were classified as heavy (3.5 tonnes or greater). For the spurs, SH8A AADT ranged from 646 to 858 vehicles, while the volume of vehicles on SH8B was 3,930 on Deadmans Point Bridge, and 4,500 near the SH6 junction.

Major intersections

References

External links

New Zealand Transport Agency
{{New Zealand State Highway navbox 8 Otago Gold Rush Gold rush trails and roads