Colls Dam Walk: Walking Guide, Time & Access

Route overview

This Nelson Creek track leads to a pleasant outlook above the historic Colls Dam.

This DOC directory entry covers Colls Dam Walk in West Coast, within Greymouth 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: 1.1 km loop
• Walking time: 40 min
• DOC grade: Easiest

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

No dogs. Other pets on conservation land rules.

Description

The walk takes in some good examples of tailraces and tailings as well as providing a pleasant lookout point above the historic Colls Dam.

Nearby tracks you can walk in Nelson Creek are Callaghans Track and Tailrace Walk.

Getting there

From Greymouth follow SH7 about 25 km north to Ngahere. Turn right at the Ngahere-Kopara Road and carry on to the Nelson Creek Settlement. The turn off to access the picnic, camping area and walks is opposite Nelson Creek Hotel.

Know before you go

• You should wear comfortable footwear and take wet weather clothes as the West Coast is known for sudden changes in weather.

• Wasps will be present through out this area in summer.

• Take care off formed tracks as shafts and tunnels are scattered throughout the area.

• Follow gold fossicking rules.

Nature and conservation

The forest in the Nelson Creek area, which is predominantly beech, is now regenerating. It was felled in the past to provide fuel and timber for huts, fluming and other mining structures, and was used in farming to a small degree.

Red and silver beech can be seen on the lower slopes and hard beech on the higher slopes.

Tailings

The Nelson Creek area is formed from layers of sandstone overlaid by glacial outwash gravels. Gold was concentrated in trough-like hollows on the surface of the sandstone.

Ground sluicing was the main method of working the gold. Sluicing needed a good supply of water which was directed over the working face, washing the gravels out.

Large rocks were lifted aside and stacked as tailings, while the smaller material was washed down tailraces containing riffle boxes to 'save' the gold. Tailraces were also essential to remove excess water from the working area.

History and culture

Nelson Creek has had a varied goldmining history of success and decline from its beginnings in 1865, when it was rushed as a shallow creek working, which yielded shotty course gold. Some areas were rich in gold but finds were patchy.

At the height of the rush over 1200 miners were scattered throughout Try Again Terrace downstream from Nelson Creek, but numbers fell almost immediately, once the productive ground was worked out.

The suspension bridge crossing Nelson Creek is a historic bridge. It was originally built in 1872 and has been rebuilt a couple of times, most recently by the New Zealand Forest Service in 1982 using the original plans.

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.