1176 Gillespies Beach Road, Karangarua, Westland

Gillespies Beach

Westland Walks

20 km from Fox Glacier (11km on an unsealed road), Gillespies is an archetypal wild West Coast beach. During the gold rushes it attracted many diggers, and a gold dredge worked there until 1945. Today, it's said, you can still find gold on the beach.

In 1866 eleven stores served several hundred people who rushed to the beach when gold was discovered there. A miners' cemetery, bits of old machinery and tailings are all that remain of the once bustling settlement. Later, world events again threatened the isolation of Gillespie's when, towards the end of World War II, a rumour of a uranium find attracted military prospectors. They discovered the volumes of the contraversial mineral were not in great enough concentration to be of use and retreated, leaving the eco-scape intact.

One or two gentle West Coast souls have opted out from society and choose to camp permanently in huts here at the beach, NZPlaces knows they are best left undisturbed.

For those looking for a decent stroll, there is the Miners' Tunnel Walk - 1.5 - 2 hours return After crossing a bridge at the mouth of Gillespies Lagoon, you follow a former pack track used by miners. This takes you through a tunnel built during the 1870s to a lookout point above the beach.

Further still is the Seal Colony - 3.5 hours return, follow the Miners' Track until you reach a sign for Galway Beach. During winter months seals use this beach as a haul-out place to rest.

DOC will tell you more about the walking tracks.

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