Skippers Canyon
Sheer schist gorge above a snow-fed river, crossed by a historic suspension bridge high over the water.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Skippers Canyon near Queenstown stands you on the high suspension bridge over the Shotover River and asks why a crossing needed to hang so far above such a modest-looking stream. It reaches back to a winter of snow and rain in the eighteen-sixties and the miners camped along the banks, then to the county engineer who drew up this bridge decades later. Best heard on the bridge deck, looking straight down at the water.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Rob Roy Glacier Track
Alpine valley walk over a swing bridge to a lookout facing a hanging glacier and tumbling waterfalls.
AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre
Historic 1880 gold-rush suspension bridge and the world's first commercial bungy jump site.
Blue Pools Track
Glacier-fed river pools of startling blue, reached by swing bridges through silver beech forest.
Kawarau Gorge
Steep schist river gorge of gold-rush relics, rapids and a stream named for a legendary loud barmaid.
Shotover River
Swift river winding through narrow rock canyons, known for high-speed jet boat rides past the walls.
Homer Tunnel
Hand-hewn granite road tunnel through an alpine range, carrying travellers down toward a fiord.