Carpark, toilet open at pools

The Blue Pools are a popular destination.
The Blue Pools are a popular destination.
Visitors to the Blue Pools near Makarora no longer have to negotiate highway traffic after parking their vehicle or hang on because there is no toilet nearby.

The Blue Pools’ new car park and toilet block, opposite the Cameron Flat camp site and on the same side of SH6 as the pools, opened for use on Thursday.

The car park was a joint project of the NZ Transport Agency and the Department of Conservation, and has increased the number of parking spaces for cars, camper vans, and buses.

A link to the Blue Pools from the new car park was created by Doc via an extension of the Doc track.

In recent years, the Blue Pools’ popularity has grown, with an estimated 90,000 people visiting the site each year.

Doc operations manager Mike Tubbs said parking had been right on the main road which was a safety concern, as there were about 265,000 vehicle movements a year on the highway.

He said the old section of Blue Pools track from the highway to the bridge will be closed off and disestablished, as will the Cameron Link track from the camp site to the highway.

The track to the Blue Pools was now longer, "so people need to allow a little longer to enjoy this experience of Mt Aspiring National Park, about 25-30 minutes walking each way", he said.

 

Comments

Excellent..that's what we need in this country! More car parks and toilets...at this rate it we'll have the whole place under concrete before we know it.

 

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