Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Maori had a number of argillite quarries in the Mt Richmond area, where they mined hard
mudstone for weapons and tools. The first European visitors were also attracted by minerals
- initially copper and chromium. There was a mining company on Dun Mountain as early as
1852, and Hacket Creek chromite was being removed from open shallow-cuts by the 1860s.
There are still parts of an old, benched bullock track - the Old Chrome Rd - near Hacket
Creek, on the western side of the forest park.
Gold was discovered in the Wakamarina River in 1861, and within three years thousands
of canvas tents had sprung up as miners flocked to the prosperous goldfield, which was one
of the richest in the country. The township of Pinedale, in the Wakamarina Valley, 8km west
of Havelock, earned the nickname Canvastown. However, the boom lasted only until 1865.
When most of the accessible alluvial gold had been mined, quartz reefs were developed.
Companies operated in the Wakamarina Valley from 1874 until the 1920s.
Environment
The whole park is covered by forest, with the exception of small patches of alpine tussock
around the summits of taller peaks. The bush includes all five species of beech, as well as
