Building the Timber Trail

Opened in 2013. The Timber Trail is one of the 22 Great Rides of New Zealand.
84 kilometres long it passes through glorious bush landscapes in Pureora Forest Park to the west of Lake of Taupo.
Building the trail involved restoring over 40 kilometre of old forest tramway that had been neglected for fifty years, including making safe a 60 metre curved tunnel the construction of several major bridges the installation of hundreds of drainage culverts, and the forging of new track through untouched native forest.
Some of the engineering involved was literally breath-taking, using techniques never seen in New Zealand before.
This film shows something of the work involved, and two historical sequences explains why this new recreational asset for the national is called the Timber Trail.
Video was produced by Tom Williamson Productions Ltd.
Copyright owned by Department of Conservation New Zealand.