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craigieburn
A very prominent snow-capped mountain
summit with views forever, towers above the West Coast highway
near Porter’s Pass.
Mt Enys (2,195 metres), in the Craigieburn Forest Park, has the
singular honour of being the highest foothill summit accessible
from a major highway in the South Island. From Porter Heights ski
field it is an exhilarating traverse over intermediate peaks to
reach the crest of Craigieburn Range and survey the scene. A
jumbled sky scape of snowy peaks crowd in, from Mt Rolleston near
Arthur’s Pass, to Mt Cook well to the south. Far below is
Lake Coleridge and the braided shingle beds of the Rakaia and
Wilberforce rivers. Eastward lies the green and brown patchwork
of the Canterbury plains merging with the blue of the Pacific
Ocean.
Craigieburn Forest Park sprawls over the broad slopes of this
eastern foothills range of the Southern Alps, 1½ hours drive
from Christchurch on S.H.73. The park offers a range of short
walks, climbing, tramping, hunting and camping with excellent
access roads. A system of walking tracks crosses the park, with
links to routes up the picturesque Harper, Ryton and Wilberforce
valleys. Most trips across the range are possible in an energetic
weekend. The Cass-Lagoon Saddle Track is the most popular tramp.
It is a moderate 2-3 day traverse of three river valleys and two
saddles with excellent huts and grand views. Rock climbing is
popular at Castle Hill where immense limestone outcrops have been
sculpted by the elements into weird and wonderful forms.
The Range is best known for four club ski fields, which are open
to the public during the winter season. Mt Olympus on the western
flank is a popular adventure playground with perfect powder
slopes. Craigieburn has superb extreme downhill skiing. Broken
River has three powder-filled basins and uncrowded slopes, and Mt
Cheeseman has uninterrupted views along the entire range.
Take a close look at the Craigieburn Forest Park on your way to
Arthur’s Pass. It has impressive mountainous terrain.
Describing the range as ‘foothills’ seems an
understatement.
The park offers year round pleasure for all outdoor enthusiasts -
a park for all seasons.
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