Trail Report: St James Conservation area New Zealand

[Tycho]

Last weekend we headed into the St James Conservation area with the Canterbury Recreational 4WD Club. Both the Edwards and Maling passes have recently been opened up by our Conservation Department to 4wd vehicles. Traditionally these tracks have only been open to hikers and mountain bikers. Day one saw us tackle the Edwards Pass which offered some great views on a well maintained track terminating at a beautiful flat area above the Waiau River where we set up the chairs and enjoyed the stunning view whilst we ate lunch. Travelling back out the way we came we over-nighted at the picturesque Lake Tennyson although a reasonable amount of wind kept a few awake. Day two saw us tackle the Maling Pass which had some great steep sections and a more “flexi” track.











More Pics Here:
http://s999.photobucket.com/albums/a...0April%202011/

[Materdaddy]

Very interesting looking geology. I don't know anything about geology, but I like the look of the "ash slide" in this picture.

Thanks for sharing your south of the equator adventures!

[Mike]

Great stuff Tycho! I'm seriously liking the stance of the Jeep.
It is fantastic to hear that tracks are being OPENED to 4WD access in NZ. That is all the more reason to come visit. New adventures for everyone.

Outstanding pics as usual. X2 on Materdaddy's coment. Is that ash?

[Tycho]

Nope it is actually scree, broken up granite, bits typically an inch to 2 inches big.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with the look of the JK now

Our Department of Conservation that manges all of these areas is trying hard to accomodate all interest groups, the 4wd clubs have a combined organisation which seems to do good work. We always try and drive responsibly knowing that any damage could result in loss of a track.