Mountain tracks may be linked

YVETTE BATTEN yvette.batten@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki Monday, 11 June 2007

Trampers could soon be trekking into previously uncharted areas of Egmont National Park.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is looking at linking the Kaitake and Pouakai ranges and Mt Taranaki in a 40km track.
DOC Stratford area manager Robert Bennett says the proposed track, which will take about three days to walk, will show people parts of the park not seen before.
"You will be able to get a perspective of the region that you may not be able to get elsewhere," he said.
Although there is no formal route between the Kaitake Range and Mt Taranaki, about half the proposed track is already there.
"A lot of the tracks in Egmont National Park are just a legacy from the past where the tracks were put in for management purposes," Mr Bennett said.
He believes the proposed track, which will run from Mt Taranaki to Lucy's Gully, near Oakura, will appeal to both locals and tourists. "It's an iconic path and this will be an iconic walk that will take in the highest peaks of the park and be quite a thing."
It has the capacity to join up with several huts including Holly Hut, Pouakai Hut on the Pouakai circuit and the Camphouse near the North Egmont Visitor Centre.
The track could also be linked up with historic Maori sites, if iwi agree to the idea.
"It's a fabulous opportunity. One that doesn't come around very often at all," Mr Bennett said.
DOC has tendered out a feasibility study for the proposed project. It wants to make a business proposal so it can tap into third party funding. "If we couldn't access external money then we wouldn't be pursuing it."
If the project goes ahead it will not be the first track in Egmont National Park that has had outside funding.
The newly completed Pouakai Circuit had cash injections from Venture Taranaki Trust and the TSB Community Trust.