Lake Hanlon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lake Hanlon | |
|---|---|
 Lake Hanlon in 2024 | |
.png)  Lake Hanlon | |
| Location | West Coast Region |
| Coordinates | 41°25′30″S 172°06′09″E / 41.4250°S 172.1025°E |
| Primary inflows | Two unnamed streams |
| Primary outflows | None known |
| Basin countries | New Zealand |
| Max. length | 1.096 km (0.681 mi) |
| Max. width | 0.345 km (0.214 mi) |
| Surface area | 12.4 ha (31 acres) |
| Surface elevation | 70 m (230 ft) |
Lake Hanlon is a 12.4-hectare (31-acre) lake on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, located 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of Little Wanganui.
There is an oft-repeated story that Lake Hanlon was formed by the 1929 Murchison earthquake,[1][2][3] but this is untrue. It was a well-recognised scenic attraction in the 1920s: as part of the development of the road north from Seddonville over the Karamea Bluffs, the Department of Tourism in 1924 was asked for £5 to develop a track to the lake and put up a roadside sign.[4][5] In a 1928 report, "one may climb on foot by a special track 100 yards up to the top of a hill and discover beautiful Lake Hanlon, which has no superior on the Coast for reflections and echoes".[6] Another pre-earthquake account calls it "a little jewel in a rich setting of birch and rimu bush, well worth the trouble of a visit."[7]
In the 1929 earthquake the road was largely destroyed and access to the lake cut off.[8] The existing outlet of the lake was cut off when both sides of the creek bed fell in, and a slip formed another lake in a depression nearby; there was concern that if this breached the settlement of Te Namu at the Little Wanganui River bridge could be flooded.[9][10] However, in 1930 an aerial survey reported that "Lake Hanlon looks its old self from the air".[11] By 1938 the lake was once again a tourist attraction, and a new track and signage was constructed.[12]
Currently a 750 m, 15-minute walk from a car park on State Highway 67, 8 km south of Little Wanganui, traverses a forested ridge to a viewing platform in the lake.[13] A second track leads from the car park to the stream.[14] The forest around the lake was gazetted as Lake Hanlon Amenity Area in 1998 by the Department of Conservation.[15]
