Old Ghost Road — Lyell to Seddonville via the Victorian Range Spine

The Old Ghost Road follows a gold-rush-era pack track that was started in 1870 and never finished — abandoned halfway through the Victorian Range when the gold ran out. The project was resurrected a century and a half later as a multi-use trail linking the ghost town of Lyell on the Buller River to Seddonville on the Mokihinui River on the West Coast. The full route climbs through ancient podocarp forest, breaks out onto an exposed alpine plateau called Ghost Lake at 1,300 metres, traverses volcanic ridge tops with views over the Tasman Sea, and drops through beech-clad gorges to the coast. The track surface alternates between packed gravel, rooted single track, muddy clay, and embedded rock — conditions that change completely after rain, which arrives frequently and hard on the West Coast.

Fully motorised access is limited to licensed e-mountain bikes and side-by-sides on specific sections under the Buller District Council’s management framework — check current regulations before loading any 4WD. The trail is better classified as a high-clearance off-road motorcycle and light UTV route; a standard 4×4 cannot complete it. That said, the Lyell approach on SH6 and the Seddonville end via the Mokihinui Road are perfectly driveable and serve as resupply and camp points for those supporting riders or hiking the route self-supported. Eight huts along the route are managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and require advance booking from May through October. Best conditions: November to April. Cell coverage is nonexistent in the ranges.