State Highway 65 (also known as the Shenandoah Highway) is a New Zealand
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
. It is 71 km long and runs south to north down the Maruia river valley from SH 7 at
Springs Junction
Springs Junction is a small settlement and road junction in the West Coast Region, West Coast region of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of and New Zealand State Highway 65, State Highway 65 (the Shenandoah Highway), east of Reefton, on th ...
, 15 km west of the main divide at the Lewis Pass, to SH 6 in the Buller Gorge, 11 km west of
Murchison. It forms part of the most direct route between
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
and
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
. It takes its name from a small settlement toward its northern end.
The road is sealed and two-lane, with some single-lane bridges. The surrounding country is used for pastoral farming (beef and dairy) with some forestry on the surrounding hills.
Springs Junction is the only locality with fuel or food along the route while
Maruia
Maruia is a locality in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast region of New Zealand. The Shenandoah Highway (State Highway 65) passes through it. Murchison, New Zealand, Murchison is 65 km north, the Lewis Pass is 39 km to the south- ...
is the largest settlement along the route.
Maruia Falls, a 5-m waterfall near the road, did not exist prior to the
1929 Murchison earthquake
The 1929 Murchison earthquake occurred at 10:17 am on 17 June. It struck the Murchison region of the South Island, with an estimated magnitude of 7.3, and was felt throughout New Zealand. There were 17 deaths, mostly as a result of landsli ...
(
magnitude
Magnitude may refer to:
Mathematics
*Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction
*Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object
*Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector
*Order of ...
7.8).
In 2019 a part of the road between Murchison and Maruia faced erosion from the
Maruia River
The Maruia River is located in the northwestern South Island of New Zealand. It is a major tributary of the Buller River, flowing for 80 km before joining the larger river eight kilometres to the west of Murchison, New Zealand, Murchison.
T ...
, caused by heavy rain.
See also
*
List of New Zealand state highways
This is a list of highways of the New Zealand state highway network
The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North Island, North and South Islands are state highways ...
References
External links
New Zealand Transport Agency
65
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