The West Coast is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,900 people, the West Coast is the least populous region in New Zealand. The population in the region grew by 0.4% over the year to July 2023.
Haast Pass / Tioripatea is a mountain pass in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand. Māori used the pass in pre-European times.
Arthur's Pass National Park is located in the South Island of New Zealand and covers 1,185 km2 of mostly mountainous terrain. Adjacent to it lies Craigieburn Forest Park. The park is administered by the Department of Conservation.
Arthur's Pass is a mountain pass in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand. The pass sits 920 metres or 3,020 feet above sea level and marks part of the boundary between the West Coast and Canterbury regions. Located 140 km from Christchurch and 95 km from Greymouth, the pass comprises part of a saddle between the valleys of the Ōtira River and of the Bealey River. Arthur's Pass lies on the border of the Selwyn and Westland districts.
The Heaphy Track is a popular tramping and mountain biking track in the north west of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the Kahurangi National Park and classified as one of New Zealand's ten Great Walks by the Department of Conservation. Named after Charles Heaphy, the track is 78.4 kilometres (48.7 mi) long and is usually walked in four or five days. The track is open for shared use with mountain bikers in the winter season from 1 May to 30 September each year. The southern end of the track is at Kōhaihai, north of Karamea on the northern West Coast, and the northern end is in the upper valley of the Aorere River, Golden Bay.
The Maruia River is located in the northwestern South Island of New Zealand. It is a major tributary of the Buller River, flowing for 80 km before joining the larger river eight kilometres to the west of Murchison.
Saint Arnaud is a small alpine village in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island, west of the mountains of the Saint Arnaud Range and 90 kilometres southwest of Nelson near the historic Tophouse Settlement. It is situated at the northern end of Lake Rotoiti.
The St James Walkway is a 66 kilometres (41 mi)-long subalpine tramping track located in the Lewis Pass area of the South Island of New Zealand. It is administered by the Department of Conservation.
State Highway 7 is a major New Zealand state highway. One of the eight national highways, it crosses the Southern Alps to link the West Coast Region with Canterbury and to form a link between the South Island's two longest highways, State Highway 1 and State Highway 6. Distances are measured from east to west with the major junction list going from east to west.
Maruia is a locality in the West Coast region of New Zealand. The Shenandoah Highway passes through it. Murchison is 65 km north, the Lewis Pass is 39 km to the south-east, and Reefton is 63 km west by road. The Maruia River flows past to the west.
Craigieburn Forest Park is a protected area in the South Island of New Zealand, adjacent to Arthur's Pass National Park to the north.
Arthur's Pass, previously called Camping Flat then Bealey Flats, and for some time officially Arthurs Pass, is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for exploring Arthur's Pass National Park.
Springs Junction is a small settlement and road junction in the West Coast region of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of State Highway 7 and State Highway 65, 45 km (28 mi) east of Reefton, on the main route between Christchurch and the Nelson, Tasman and Buller districts.
Lake Tennyson is a glacial high-country lake in Canterbury, New Zealand. The first European settler to see the lake was Frederick Weld in 1853, who also named it. The headwaters of the Waiau Toa / Clarence River are just to the north, and the river flows through Lake Tennyson.
Henry Lewis was a New Zealand surveyor.
Harper Pass, previously known as Hurunui Pass or sometimes Taramakau Pass, is an alpine pass between Canterbury and the West Coast in New Zealand. It was the most important crossing for Māori to obtain pounamu. The first European crossed the pass in 1857 and the leader of the second party later that year, Leonard Harper, gave the pass its current name. It was of some interest to the settlers as the West Coast was part of Canterbury Province and it remained the only feasible route for some years. When the West Coast Gold Rush started in 1864, it became a heavily used crossing and remained so until October 1865, when a dray road over Arthur's Pass opened. The Arthur's Pass route was upgraded in March 1866 to coach traffic standard, and the much less direct route over Harper Pass fell out of use. It was restored in the 1930s as a tramping route and the Harper Pass Track, a four or five-day tramp, is today part of Te Araroa over its entire length.
Maruia Springs is a settlement in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the south bank of the Maruia River on State Highway 7 to the west of the Lewis Pass.
Pleasant Flat is an alluvial floodplain of the Haast River in the Haast Pass on New Zealand's South Island. A former stopping place for travellers crossing the pass before the building of the highway, it now has a campsite and picnic shelter. It has a notable view of Mount Hooker to the northeast.
The historic Haast to Paringa Cattle Track is a trail through South Westland, New Zealand, constructed in 1875 to allow farmers in the Landsborough and Cascade Valley area to drive their cattle on an annual two-week journey to the sale yards in Whataroa. It was constructed as an inland loop to bypass the precipitous cliffs at Knights Point. For 90 years it was the only land access to the settlements of Haast and Jackson Bay, but the last mob of cattle was driven in 1961, and the construction of a highway connecting Paringa to Haast Pass in 1965 made it redundant. After falling into disuse, the cattle track was converted into a 33-kilometre (21 mi), three-day tramping track, opening in 1981. The track and its three huts are maintained by the New Zealand Department of Conservation.
Roaring Billy Falls is a waterfall in Mount Aspiring National Park, Westland District, New Zealand. It is located in the Haast River valley, around 30 km (19 mi) inland from Haast, near Eighteen Mile Bluff on State Highway 6. The falls are a 30-metre-high (98 ft) cascade on The Roaring Billy stream. The bottom of the cascade is at an elevation of around 80 metres (262 ft) where it flows into the Haast River.
