Exploring the Alexandra Millennium Track
The Alexandra Millennium Track is a popular 11.5 km walking and biking trail that connects the towns of Alexandra and Clyde in Central Otago. This scenic route follows the Clutha River, offering a picturesque journey through the region's natural and historical landscapes.
Natural and Historical Features
The track has several notable features. The extensive deciduous trees have thrived along its banks for over 160 years. In Spring and Autumn, the track is especially captivating thanks to the colourful displays of wildflowers in Spring and changing leaves in Autumn.
The trailhead at Clyde is next to a historic steel bridge. As you walk the track, the remains of old stone cottages and irrigation pipes hint at early settler life and farming history in the area. Other highlights along the track include the Manuherikia River confluence, where it joins the Clutha River, creating a strikingly scenic spot.
A notable historical feature is the Earnscleugh Tailings. These tailings are remnants of gold dredging activities from over a century ago, forming a vast area of stored materials that tell the story of the region's gold mining past.
Explore the Earnscleugh Tailings
You can take a unique loop walk through the Earnscleugh Tailings Historic Reserve, where the scent of wild thyme permeates the air, growing abundantly on the stone and sand mounds. The trail is dotted with various pieces of old mining and dredging equipment, offering a glimpse into the area's rich mining history.
The Earnscleugh Tailings are a striking relic of gold‑dredging on the banks of the Clutha River / Mata Au. What you see today is 170 hectares of vast, undulating mounds of gravel and rock, which are the spoil (waste) from more. The tailings arose from more than a century of dredging operations that ran from the 1860s to the early 1960s.
Walking through the Earnscleugh Tailings Reserve offers a fascinating contrast between industrial history and natural reclamation. There are remnants of dredge ponds, water races, old machinery and buckets used to scoop river gravel. What appears to be an almost lunar terrain belies the fact that the site contains adapted plants and insects, some of which are unique to Central Otago’s rock‑gravel environments.
How to Get There
To access the Alexandra Millennium Track, you can start from either Alexandra or Clyde beside the river. Both towns are well-connected by road, and the track itself is part of a shared hike and bike system, making it easily accessible for walkers and cyclists alike.
You can also connect the track with the Roxburgh Gorge Track and the Otago Central Rail Trail.
