Directions

From Westport, take State Highway 67 through Granity, north towards Karamea. At the Mokihinui River Bridge follow the right hand turn sign to Seddonville. Drive about 1 km to the car park. The walk itself is 1 km with the track exiting 1 km down the road from where you park. The drive should take from 30 to 40 minutes.

Chasm Creek walkway

It follows along an old railway formation featuring a tunnel with glow-worms, a bridge, views of the Mokihinui River and Mt Glasgow.

This level walkway meets the Seddonville Road at both ends.

Begin at the signposted  entrance  about 1 km up  the road towards  Seddonville from the Mokihinui River Bridge.  Follow track through high-banked cuttings for about 10 minutes to reach the Chasm Hill Tunnel.  The tunnel is 6 metres high and 80 metres long, so a torch would be handy.

It is a beautiful walkway to do during the day to see the moss covered rock walls, views of the river, and the beach where the BBC’s magnificent dinosaur film "LOST WORLD" was filmed…or at night when the tunnel has a spectacular glow-worm light show.

History

 After a visit by Premier Richard John Seddon in 1903, the small coal settlement on the south bank of the Mokihinui River was named Seddonville

Mokihinui River – how it got its name

Mokihi means a raft of flax stalks and Nui means large.  This river was well known for its dangerously rapid rise in rain, to both Maori traveling to trade in greenstone (pounamu) and the early Europeans.