Skippers area short walks: Walking Guide, Time & Access

Route overview

There are a number of short walks in the Skippers area, providing an insight to the early pioneer mining era.

This DOC directory entry covers Skippers area short walks in Otago, within Skippers 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: Not confirmed on the checked DOC page; see individual route sections
• Walking time: 10 - 30 m
• 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.

• Skippers road and bridge closure; First published on 17 October 2025. Last reviewed on 6 October 2026.

Dog access

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

Description

Skippers Point Cemetery

Time: 5 min one way

Start/finish: follow the road to the left of the information shelter and turn right at the first junction.

A silent, stone-fenced record of Skippers’ pioneers, that contains 20 headstones and graves.

Johnston’s Otago Hotel

Time: 5 min one way

Start/finish: Skippers Point Cemetery

Near the cemetery are the stone ruins of Skippers’ only pub, Johnston’s Otago Hotel, the centre of many of Skippers social activities.

Skippers Point School

Skippers Point School

Time: 10 min one way

Start/finish: follow the road to the left of the information shelter.

The Upper Shotover Public School, later known as Skippers Point School, was open between 1879 and 1927. DOC restored it between 1989 and 1992 and installed interpretation panels. These provide an insight into the school, gold mining and life in Skippers.

Mt Aurum Homestead

Time: 10 min one way

Start/finish: follow the road to the left of the information shelter

One of only two timber buildings remaining from Skippers’ gold mining era, inside it features information on the homestead and the station.

Pleasant Creek Terrace

Pleasant Terrace Historic Walk

Time: 30 min one way

Start/finish: Skippers Point School

Follow the easy 4WD track across Londonderry then Pleasant Terraces to panels describing the obvious mining and sluicing scars in front of you.

Beyond Pleasant Terrace, trampers with some experience can make their way up Stony Creek to the junction with Murphys Creek North and pass more gold mining relics along the way.

The track up Stony Creek is neither marked nor maintained.

Getting there

From Queenstown, travel along Gorge Road to Arthur’s Point and take the turn-off to Coronet Peak ski field. Off that road, turn left onto the unsealed road signposted to Skippers. From Skippers Saddle, continue on the narrow and winding 13 kilometre Gorge Road to Skippers Bridge and Mount Aurum Recreation Reserve. This is a one-and-a-half- to two-hour drive.

Know before you go

Only experienced drivers should attempt this journey. Because of its challenges, and precipitous drop-offs, this is not a road on which to learn gravel-driving techniques.

During high winds small-sized branches are falling out of dead trees within the densely forested pine stands in Mount Aurum Recreation Reserve. Avoid areas of dead trees during high winds.

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.