The Wilmot Pass is a high pass on the

main divide The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...

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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is 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 Tasma ...

. It connects

Doubtful Sound Doubtful Sound / Patea is a fiord in Fiordland, in the far south west of New Zealand. It is located in the same region as the smaller but more famous and accessible Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. It took second place after Milford Sound as New Zea ...

, a deep indentation in the coast of

Fiordland Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes ...

, to the valley of the West Arm of

Lake Manapouri Lake Manapouri is located in the South Island of New Zealand. The lake is situated within the Fiordland National Park and the wider region of Te Wahipounamu South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Māori History According to Māori legen ...

. The pass is named after E. H. Wilmot, a former surveyor-general of New Zealand, who had noted it while surveying the area in 1897. It lies between Mount Wilmot and Mount Mainwaring. On the east side the Spey River drains to Lake Manapouri and on the west side the Lyvia River drains to Deep Cove.

History

University of Otago Professor Mainwaring-Brown died while exploring the area to the west of Lake Manapouri in 1888. Mount Mainwaring, on the north side of the pass, is named in his honour. R. Murrell was the first European to ascend the pass while searching for Mainwaring-Brown the same year.'MANAPOURI, LAKE', from ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Available a
Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
/ref> E. H. Wilmot, who was to become Surveyor General of New Zealand in 1914, surveyed the area extensively in 1897. Tracks were cut to both Doubtful and

Dusky Sound Tamatea / Dusky Sound is a fiord on the southwest corner of New Zealand, in Fiordland National Park. Geography One of the most complex of the many fiords on this coast, it is also the largest at 40 kilometres in length and eight kilometre ...

s and

huts A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...

established, but these fell into disrepair. In 1921 Leslie Murrell established a tourist lodge at Deep Cove, reopened the track and conducted walking trips from Manapouri. The Manapouri-Doubtful Sound Tourist Company later took over operations, building additional huts.

Road

The pass is crossed by a gravel road which was constructed to facilitate development of the Manapouri Hydroelectricity Project. The road is notable as being the only road on the New Zealand mainland which is disconnected from the rest of the roading network.Fiordland Tourism
/ref> The road is home to several

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

s, notably the Stella Falls. Until the 1960s, the Wilmot Pass was only accessible from the sea or via the Wilmot Pass walking track. The 21 km unsealed road was constructed between 1963 and 1965 to accommodate heavy equipment transporters moving equipment loads of up to 97 tonnesHistory of Manapouri: Meridian Energy
/ref> from ships off-loading at Doubtful Sound for the construction on the Manapouri Underground Powerstation. The Wilmot Pass road remains the only way to haul equipment to and from the Manapouri Power Station that would be too heavy for ferrying across Lake Manapouri. From south, the only land-based connection to the power station is via Percy Saddle, where the track is little more than a marked route. A number of tour operators now transport tourists across Lake Manapouri by boat and over the Wilmot Pass by bus to lodges or a variety of boats and yachts on Doubtful Sound for day and overnight cruises. The buses used for these tours are stationed at the Lake Manapouri end of the road.Fiordland Cruises
/ref> Two tailrace tunnels connect the sound with the lake deep under the mountains north of the pass. The first tunnel was completed in late 1969, a year before the power station became operational, and the second tunnel was built between 1997 and 2002. Afternoon view from Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound.jpg, View from Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound Wilmot Pass Sgn.jpg, The old Pass marker MossGarden.JPG, Lemin's moss garden on the Wilmot Pass Road, in the heart of

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Mountain passes of the Southern Alps Landforms of Fiordland