New Zealand State Highway 80

Last updated

State Highway 80 NZ.svg

State Highway 80
Route information
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency
Length 54.7 km (34.0 mi)
Major junctions
South end Tekapo Twizel Road State Highway 8 NZ.svg at Lake Pukaki
North end Terrace Road/Bowen Drive at Mount Cook Village
Location
Primary
destinations
Glentanner
Highway system
State Highway 79 NZ.svg SH 79 SH 82 State Highway 82 NZ.svg

State Highway 80 is a South Island state highway in New Zealand. Known as Mount Cook Road, it is a tourist road between the settlements of Twizel and Mount Cook Village. About 55 kilometres in length, it is mostly two lane, with a few single-lane bridges. Tourists travelling between Christchurch and Queenstown often deviate here and travel to New Zealand's highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook.

South Island Southernmost of the two main islands in New Zealand

The South Island, also officially named Te Waipounamu, 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 Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island. It has a temperate climate.

The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency.

Mount Cook Village Place in New Zealand

Aoraki / Mount Cook, often referred to as Mount Cook Village, is located within New Zealand's Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park at the end of State Highway 80, only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the summit of the country's highest mountain, also called Aoraki / Mount Cook, in the Southern Alps.

Contents

Route

Since designation, this is the route SH 80 takes.

For the first 31 km of the road, SH 80 runs in a northerly direction parallel with the banks of Lake Pukaki to the right and the Mackenzie Basin to the left. About 10 kilometres along the road, the basin is superseded by the Ben Ohau Range. After a further 20 kilometres, the road passes the head of Lake Pukaki where it changes name to the Tasman River. The highway eventually terminates just east of Mount Cook Village after a further 24 kilometres.

Lake Pukaki lake in Canterbury Region, New Zealand

Lake Pukaki is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north-south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. The others are Lakes Tekapo and Ohau. All three lakes were formed when the terminal moraines of receding glaciers blocked their respective valleys, forming moraine-dammed lakes.

Mackenzie Basin drainage basin

The Mackenzie Basin 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 such basin in New Zealand. Historically famous mainly for sheep farming, the sparsely populated area is now also a popular tourism destination.

Ben Ohau Range is a mountain range in Canterbury Region, South Island, New Zealand. It lies west of Lake Pukaki, at 44°S170°E.

See also

Related Research Articles

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park Park in New Zealand

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, near the town of Twizel. Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, and Aoraki/Mount Cook Village lie within the park. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists of reserves that were established as early as 1887 to protect the area's significant vegetation and landscape.

Hooker Glacier (New Zealand) Glacier

Hooker Glacier is one of several glaciers close to the slopes of Aoraki / Mount Cook in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. It is not as large as its neighbour, the Tasman Glacier, measuring 11 kilometres in length.

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State Highway 49 (SH 49) is a New Zealand state highway, linking SH 4 and SH 1, via the tourist town of Ohakune. It forms the southern part of the ring road surrounding Tongariro National Park and provides access to the southern side of Mount Ruapehu and the Turoa skifield. It roughly follows the North Island Main Trunk railway.

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New Zealand State Highway 38 road in New Zealand

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New Zealand State Highway 75 road in New Zealand

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Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail New Zealand cycling and tramping trail

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New Zealand State Highway 29 road in New Zealand

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State Highway 47 (SH 47) is a New Zealand state highway in the central North Island. It provides a link from SH 4 at National Park to SH 41 at Tokaanu just west of Turangi.

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