Please feel free to contribute to this tread,any information you would like to share on the public fossicking area (Moonlight Creek)27 km north-northeast of Greymouth. Information may include-vehicle access and parking,track locations,hazards,camping facilities,toilets,accommodation,access and/or local info contact numbers,boundary locations,how bad the sand flies are and last but not least any general locations for finding a little gold.(Or a lot who knows!)
Dont forget to upload any good photos or Youtube links too!!
The more of us who contribute the better so don’t be shy.
This could be an excellent resource for us Paydirt gold seekers!!
Got to be one of my favorite places to Fossick,nice chunky gold if your on it,no access at the moment as loggers are using the only road in.Carpark at end of road but no facilities and no camping unless your self sufficient.
Vid showing a little gold
Nice flood gold flakes, seen other people camped there in buses. I managed fine in a Rav 4 in 2 wheel mode. Path down to the river can be very slippery and steep.
Sand flies extremely savage, they land and immediately bite! Luckily I had garden gloves in my pack, that seemed to stop them biting my hands, so then they tried getting up my nose
Water level seems pretty high and flowing pretty quick, but since I am not a local I don’t know if what I saw is normal for this time of year.
Wondering what it will be like next visit, now that the walking track has been opened.
Expecting it to be a bit less quiet at the car park. Don’t see how they will be able to close the road when it now has this "Significant " walking track status ??? Paparoa I think
wonder if they will upgrade the access road if its open for the walking track. went there last year and got my car in (2wd) but there were a few hairy bits especially near the bridge.
Probably just make you have to walk all the way from the main road. That will deter a few people straight away. Mostly the gold fossickers…having to carry all their gear in…& back. It is a sweet spot…that is for sure. Have never missed finding gold in there, & that is detecting. Haven’t been in there for probably coming up 3 years now & it pissed down with rain & I didnt even bother detecting but hung out for a few hours with one of the “local” residences watching a few episodes of Gold Rush Alaska in his solar powered van & tv over a few coffees. Ah…the life…
Hi all, just to clarify a couple of location details, that I think some are getting mixed up, in regards to Moonlight Creek and The Paparoa Track. Yes, both are on the West Coast but are separate locations.
From Blackball to the start of the road that takes you to the Moonlight Creek fossicking area, is approximately 10 km. It has no connection to the Paparoa walking track, unless you are only tramping through the fossicking area on the Moonlight Track and connect up with the Paparoa Track further up there. I was last there November 2017, and had no problem getting in with my Ford Ranger,2WD.
The Paparoa Track, is accessed from Blackball along Roa Rd,into Blackball Rd,(which has now been turned into a 2 lane road to get to the carpark at the start of the Paparoa Track). There is no fossicking site here.
I think I got this right, and hope it helps.
I also can’t wait to get a break and head into the fossicking sites and see what mother nature replenished for our gold fever! Ben.
I was down there a couple of weeks ago…track was good…not filming for my youtube channel but more for mental health…after 5 months laid up with a snapped achillies I just needed to dug a hole,sit in a stream and do a little panning…rocked up to the carpark and was greeted by the resident detectorists…think they were still reeling after golden boy took all their easy nuggets…lol…had a coffee and a chat…foot still a bit tender after panning at slab hut the previous day and explained that I wasn’t too sure if I could get down to the river on it…“bugger that” one said and proceeded to bring out a kick arse climbing rope out from his van…“we’ll get ya on it mate”…he took me to the cliff edge,threw the rope down the cliff and tied it to a tree…“see that big hole down there behind that big rock? a guy got a gram outta there yesterday and he isn’t coming back so get down there mate”…so like a rat down a drain pipe I carefully traversed down to the river…I ended up with about a half a gram that included a nice picker so I was wrapped!!
Upon my return I thanked the guys and talked more gold…they showed me some beautiful nuggets and species they had found recently so I pulled out some cold beers from me chilly bin as a token of my appreciation…this is what gold prospecting is all about…those guys are more than happy to help fellow prospectors get a little shiny in the pan…cheers guys…good karma to ya! Get out there people!! PS they said (and I’m not sure if it’s accurate)that the boundries of the public fossicking area have been extended at Moonlight to the second swing bridge upstream(where golden boy found some good nuggets) and to the switch back downstream
Slab hut has some good gold…try just upstream from campsite…where path is closest to river…big boulders with sticky gravels…good flakes to be had !
Hi guys new member to this site and have been thinking about going up moonlight some time after the lock down.
I was talking to a doc ranger today and asked him about the rules up there and he said to me don’t dig into the bank at all… You can move rocks all u want in the creek but not the bank. Also he didn’t care about sluice length as long as only hand tools were being used (no motors) crow bars and even a bit of diving is fine.
He also said that slab hut has been hammerd by guys going up in the night and attacking the bank and they arnt happy about that. Anyway I hope to go up moonlight some time so pretty excited
Cheers
