Charming Creek North Walkway
Westport · Nelson-Tasman
This walk was suggested by the community and checked against the authority quoted above before it was published. The route line comes from official track data. DOC’s own wording: “Dogs allowed. Keep dog under control at all times. Other pets on conservation land rules. (Department of Conservation, Charming Creek North Walkway, the Dog access panel, read 3 September 2026.) DOC asks for control rather than a leash here, which is what makes this walk off lead, but the control is the condition and not a formality: this is an old bush tramway with a 50 m unlit tunnel, exposed edges above the Ngakawau Gorge and live rockfall around the Mangatini tunnel, so a dog that recalls is the price of the lead being off. DOC also warns not to cross beyond the barriers and not to let a dog drink from the streams, which run a high mineral count from acid mine drainage off the old workings”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Charming Creek North Walkway
Charming Creek North Walkway covers 6.0 km, near Westport in Nelson-Tasman.
An old bush tramway walked in off the top end, through cutover bush and farm paddocks to a string of mining and milling relics and a view of the Mangatini Falls. Inge sent this one in with Pip and called it a great off lead under control walk, which is exactly what DOC calls it too. The formation is flat and easy the whole way because it was built for coal wagons rather than for walkers, so the distance is the only real work in it. The thing to know before you drive out is that Charming Creek Walkway is no longer one walk. A large active slip has split it into two separate tracks, the North Walkway mapped here and the Charming Creek South Walkway reached from Ngakawau, and you cannot get through between them. Inge walked it before the split and flagged the change herself when she sent it in. This page is the northern half only: in from the Charming Creek mine site carpark at the end of Charming Creek Road, about 10 km from Seddonville on gravel, and back out the same way. From the carpark you pass the historic mine site, the bathhouse shell and the sealed mine entrances, then drop and climb again on steps past a vertical boiler to Mumm's Mill, roughly 15 minutes in. The long middle section follows the old rails through paddocks to Watson's Mill, which is about an hour and a half and the point DOC counts as 5.5 km. Ten minutes past it the track opens onto the Upper Ngakawau Gorge and runs to the 50 m Mangatini Tunnel and the falls view, which is where we have stopped the line at just over 6 km. Call it 12 km and the better part of a day if you walk the whole thing there and back, and turn around wherever suits. Dogs are off lead under control, which is DOC's own wording. Keep the recall honest through the last kilometre in particular. There is a real risk of rockfall on the section leading to the tunnel and DOC says to avoid it in heavy rain or wind, the gorge edges are exposed, and the tunnel itself is dark enough that a dog ahead of you is a dog you cannot see. Do not let them drink from the streams here: the water carries a high mineral load from acid mine drainage. This is also a shared use track with mountain bikers riding the old railway formations, so call your dog in when you hear one coming.
Graded moderate, it climbs about 158 m overall, and takes about 1 hr 28 to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Inge & Pip suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
