Butchers Dam Loop Track: Walking Guide, Time & Access

Route overview

Butchers Dam Loop Track is an excellent short family walk.

This DOC directory entry covers Butchers Dam Loop Track in Otago, within Flat Top Hill Conservation Area. Where DOC groups several walks, times and grades refer to the listed options rather than a single continuous itinerary.

Distance, time and grade

• Distance: 2.5 km loop
• Walking time: 1 hr
• DOC grade: Easy

Access and alerts

Source checked 2026-10-08. This page is a dated snapshot, not a live track-status report. Check current DOC route information immediately before travelling. An absence of listed alerts does not establish that a route is open.

Dog access

Dogs on a leash only. Other pets on conservation land rules.

Description

This is a great track for families. Highlights include a dam, lake, a historic hut, and skinks. The track has some sections of stairs.

It is a short walk with a lot of history and provides a good taste of the area's geology, dry vegetation and animals that live in it.

This is not a mountain biking track but the first section of this track can be used by mountain bikers to access nearby bike tracks.

Getting there

Access to Flat Top Hill Conservation Area is via an easement over private land. Respect private property by keeping dogs on leashes until you reach the conservation area.

Travel south from Alexandra for 6 km along State Highway 8. Turn left into the Flat Top Hill carpark near Butchers Dam.

Know before you go

There is a toilet along this track. It is a hot dry very exposed area, take water, sunhat and wind protection.

Nature and conservation

Flat Top Hill Conservation Area lies at the foot of Kopuwai Conservation Area. It contains one of New Zealand’s most threatened ecosystems – dry, short tussockland – with native species that grow in the driest conditions. The area includes impressive rock outcrops.

History and culture

Gold mining history

In 1862, gold was discovered in Butchers Gully (which is now submerged under Butchers Dam). Water was essential for mining the gold and for survival. European settlers quickly learnt the value of water in the dry Central Otago climate. Butchers dam is itself a legacy to the need for water reserves in an environment that makes water the equivalent of “liquid gold”.

During the 1860s, Butchers Gully as it was known, was busy with goldmining activity. Although not as rich as nearby Conroy’s Gully, it was productive for many years.

Butchers shop

A store and butchers shop was set up mid 1865. During 1868, the road between Roxburgh and Alexandra was completed and Butchers Gully Hotel was built. It was later destroyed by fire on 29 January 1886, In May 1890, a replacement hotel was built and successfully managed by a succession of owners, until it was submerged under the Butchers reservoir in 1937. It is said that when the water level is low, the chimneystacks may be seen below the surface.

Butchers dam

Butchers Dam and its outlet tunnel (728 metres through solid schist rock) were built between 1935 and 1937 during the great depression in order to create a water reservoir for the nearby town of Alexandra. The dam and race are now only used for irrigation. The Last Chance Irrigation Company now owns the dam.

Chinese influence

The Chinese influence on Butchers Gully can be seen in the remains of a market garden, orchard, schist rock storeroom and surrounding stacked rock fence. These were the efforts of Lye Bow (Li Bo), a Chinese gentleman, one of the many Chinese miners who came to New Zealand in the early 1860’s. A popular character of this area, his unusual story is told in detail on the Interpretative Loop Track.

The property surrounded by the conservation area and Butchers Dam is in private hands, but is still known locally as Lye Bow.

Sources and reuse

Route descriptions and practical information reproduced from the Department of Conservation, Crown copyright, under CC BY 4.0, subject to DOC's copyright policy. Formatting has been adapted, including flattening page sections; follow the original DOC page for maps, section-specific layout, current notices and linked documents. Outdoor Next is independent and is not endorsed by DOC.

The accompanying photograph is a licensed general hiking illustration, not a photograph of this route.