The Bealey Spur Track starts above the hamlet of Bealey Spur, just off the main road south of Arthers Pass. The parking area is just off the highway before the houses, and you have to walk up the road to the head of the track (about 500 metres).
From there, the track climbs through pretty beech forest, manuka groves, and tussock land to an amazing viewpoint over the Waimakariri and surrounding mountain ranges. It takes about an hour or so to get to this point (don’t be confused by earlier cliff-edge views into the Bruce Gorge…). You can then continue up the spur for another hour to a hut and more views.
Late spring or early summer is a good time for this walk. The rare New Zealand native mistletoe is present in the beech forest and was flowering. The easiest way to find it is by looking out for red (sometimes yellow) petals on the ground and then looking up. You may also notice small white berries above the bush line. These are snowberries and are edible. The manuka and native daisies were also flowering profusely.
