{ "type": "ExternalData", "service": "page", "title": "NZHeaphyTrack.map" } The Heaphy Track is a popular tramping and mountain biking track in the north west of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the Kahurangi National Park and classified as one of New Zealand's ten Great Walks by the Department of Conservation. Named after Charles Heaphy, the track is long and is usually walked in four or five days. The track is open for shared use with mountain bikers in the winter season from 1 May to 30 September each year. The southern end of the track is at Kōhaihai, north of Karamea on the northern West Coast, and the northern end is in the upper valley of the Aorere River, Golden Bay. Floods in February 2022 caused major damage to three bridges on the West Coast end of the track, leading to the closure of the section between James Mackay Hut and Heaphy Hut. The rest of the track and all the huts are open, and the track can be accessed for return trips from either road-end. Through travel is currently not possible until the bridges are rebuilt and the damaged section of track repaired. History Māori tribes are known to have settled along the lower course of the Heaphy River as early as the 14th century. There is a significant archaeological site near the existing Heaphy Hut that has been the subject of significant investigations. The evidence from these investigations suggests that at least some of the area crossed by today's Heaphy Track had been explored and settled by Māori in pre-European times. No evidence has yet been found of middens in the Gouland Downs area, however middens have been found at all the main river-mouths south of the Heaphy River. This suggests that the route along the coast had been used regularly by Māori. The first visit to the area by persons whose names were recorded took place in 1846, when Charles Heaphy, Thomas Brunner and their Māori guide , supported by another guide , explored the coastal sector of the track. In October 1856, James Mackay and a colleague John Clark explored the headwaters of the Aorere River, in search of a large grassy plan that had been reported by Māori to lie between the Aorere and the West Coast. They found a large scrub-covered area that was later named the Gouland Downs, but did