Ohakune Old Coach Road

Built at the end of the horse-power era, at a time when the first motor cars were arriving in New Zealand, The Ohakune Coach Road is an engineering artefact of the early 20th century. It is a remarkably high-grade road built in the period before bitumen surfaces, with most of its surface covered in setts, a rare type of unique pavement.

In 1906 this track was upgraded and paved to provide an all-weather coach link between the two approaching railheads on the North Island Main Trunk rail. Daily coach service was timetabled to meet trains, and operated along the road until the railway was finally fully opened in February 1909.