The new Gabriel's Gully walking track is open in time for next week's 150th gold discovery celebrations.
The track was opened by local landowner Malcolm Ritchie and Clutha district Mayor Bryan Cadogan near Lawrence yesterday.
Mr Ritchie said it was "about time" the track was finished.
Mr Cadogan thanked Mr Ritchie, the Tuapeka-Lawrence Community Company and the wider community for their efforts on the track and also praised the community board for its work on the 150th anniversary celebrations.
The new walk, which is about 4km long, follows the east side of the gully from the car park, past the point where Gabriel Read first discovered gold, and then on to the Goldfields Park.
The Otago Regional Council granted $9000 towards the track, while local people put in many hours of voluntary labour.
At its meeting yesterday the board discussed the need for signs and the possibility of fencing the track depending on how many people used it.
A four-day celebration starting next Friday is planned to mark 150 years since Gabriel Read discovered the first significant gold deposits in the gully bearing his name just outside Lawrence.
The board was told the Clutha District Council had entered it in the New Zealand Community Boards Best Practice Awards, for its Lawrence streetscape project.
