Southern Scenic Route

Southern Scenic Route
Route information
Maintained by NZ Transport Agency, Venture Southland, Destination Queenstown, Destination Fiordland, Clutha District Council, Dunedin City Council and Department of Conservation
Length:	610 km (380 mi)
Existed:	6 November 1988 (6 November 1988) – present
Major junctions
West end:	SH 6 at Queenstown
	SH 6 and SH 97 at Five Rivers SH 97 and SH 94 at Mossburn SH 94 and SH 95 at Te Anau SH 94 at Manapouri SH 99 at Clifden SH 6, SH 98 and SH 99 at Lorneville SH 1 and SH 6 at Invercargill SH 1 at Balclutha SH 1 and SH 8 at Clarksville SH 1 at Waihola
East end:	SH 1 at Caversham, Dunedin
Highway system
New Zealand state highways Motorways and expressways List Unused

Official logo

On Lake Te Anau

The Southern Scenic Route is a tourist highway in New Zealand linking Queenstown, Fiordland, Te Anau and the iconic Milford Road to Dunedin via, Riverton, Invercargill and The Catlins.^[1] An Australian travel magazine labelled it "one of the world's great undiscovered drives" in 2008.^[2]

History and development

The Southern Scenic Route concept and name were conceived at an informal gathering in Tuatapere in November 1985 and confirmed at a public meeting in January 1986.^[3] The promotors then negotiated with road and tourism authorities and local government.

The project was a first for New Zealand and approval was a slow process.^[3] At one stage, traffic signs were installed in a clandestine operation.^[3] The Route opened officially on 6 November 1988,^[3] initially running between Te Anau in the west and Balclutha in the east. It was extended from Balclutha to Dunedin in 1998^[3] and from Te Anau to Queenstown in 2010.

Route

Current route

Invercargill Water Tower, viewed from Leet St

Purakaunui Falls, 17 km (11 mi) southwest of Owaka

The Route runs in a U shape from Queenstown to Dunedin.^[1] Skirting the eastern boundary of Fiordland National Park, it passes Manapouri and Tuatapere. At Te Waewae Bay the coast is reached and the route swings eastward towards Orepuki, Colac Bay and Riverton. At Lorneville the New Zealand state highway network is joined, and the Southern Scenic Route runs on State Highway 6 for just eight kilometres south into Invercargill.

From Invercargill it heads east through Fortrose into the Catlins then through Owaka to Balclutha. This part was formerly State Highway 92. The next section of rugged coastline with poor roading through Kaitangata is avoided, as the Southern Scenic Route follows State Highway 1 (SH 1) to Milton and Lake Waihola.

The Route leaves the highway at Waihola and climbs through Otago Coast Forest rejoining the coastline at Taieri Mouth. From here it follows secondary roads through Brighton and Green Island, ending where it meets SH 1 again at Caversham.

Proposed extensions

In early 2007^[4] a proposal arose to extend the route northward beyond Dunedin through Waitati. In November 2007, the Dunedin City Council confirmed that it planned to talk with the Waitaki District Council about extending the route to Oamaru, an idea that was not adopted.^[5]

References

External links

• Southern Scenic Route

New Zealand state highways
List of New Zealand state highways List of unused highways in New Zealand List of motorways and expressways in New Zealand
National	SH 1 (incl. SH 1B, SH 1D) SH 2 (incl. SH 2B) SH 3 (incl. SH 3A) SH 4 SH 5 SH 6 (incl. SH 6A) SH 7 (incl. SH 7A) SH 8 (incl. SH 8A, SH 8B)
North Island	SH 10 SH 11 SH 12 SH 14 SH 15 SH 16 SH 18 SH 20 (incl. SH 20A, SH 20B) SH 21 SH 22 SH 23 SH 24 SH 25 (incl. SH 25A) SH 26 SH 27 SH 28 SH 29 (incl. SH 29A) SH 30 (incl. SH 30A) SH 31 SH 32 SH 33 SH 34 SH 35 SH 36 SH 37 SH 38 SH 39 SH 41 SH 43 SH 44 SH 45 SH 46 SH 47 SH 48 SH 49 SH 50 (incl. SH 50A) SH 53 SH 54 SH 56 SH 57 SH 58
South Island	SH 60 SH 62 SH 63 SH 65 SH 67 (incl. SH 67A) SH 69 SH 71 SH 73 SH 74 (incl. SH 74A) SH 75 SH 76 SH 77 SH 78 SH 79 SH 80 SH 82 SH 83 SH 84 SH 85 SH 86 SH 87 SH 88 SH 90 SH 93 SH 94 SH 95 SH 96 SH 97 SH 98 SH 99
Former state highways	SH 1A SH 2A SH 15 SH 15A SH 17 SH 36 SH 40 SH 47A SH 49A SH 52 SH 57A SH 61 SH 70 SH 72 SH 73A SH 89 SH 91 SH 92
Touring routes	Twin Coast Discovery Highway Thermal Explorer Highway Pacific Coast Highway Classic New Zealand Wine Trail Alpine Pacific Triangle Great Alpine Highway Foothills Scenic Route Inland Scenic Route Southern Scenic Route