The Skippers Canyon Road, located in in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island, is today one of New Zealand's better known scenic roads and unbelievably scary as it’s totally narrow and different to manouvre your car. This gravel road, with a length of 16,5 miles, carved by hand by miners over 140 years ago is made from a very narrow cut in the middle of a sheer cliff face.

The road was built during the gold rush, when a precarious pack track was the only access to Skippers township and the Upper Shotover diggings. Constructed between 1883 and 1890, the Skippers Road was considered a major engineering feat in its day. The road is so narrow that if two vehicles have to pass each other, one vehicle might have to reverse for anything up to 3 kilometres of winding narrow road to get to a place wide enough to pass. It’s one of only two roads in the country where rental car insurance is not honoured if driven on. Skippers Road is mostly one-way, narrow and steep with sheer drops of several hundred metres.


SkippersCanyon was formed by Glaciers approximately 25,000 years ago as loose gravel rock and gold ground its way down the valley. In this glacial process ton after ton of precious gold was deposited throughout the canyon. Over the years the mighty Shotover River Queenstown flowed from the Southern Alps and created what would be known as the richest gold bearing river in the world. The road was built to improve access to the upper ShotoverRiver for miners, particularly for those seeking to install large machinery. It also provided a better means of access for those living in the canyon than the existing packtrack (1863). Mining's heyday was over by the time the road was completed but it continued to be used by farmers and tourists and those mining operations that lingered on in the twentieth century.
Skippers Road, a narrow, winding, and exhilaratingly treacherous pathway that twists and turns for about 16 ½ miles through SkippersCanyon, was carved and blasted right out of the solid rock by Chinese laborers. It took 22 years to carve out an access road using only black gunpowder and hand drills. This was considered to be an engineering miracle as the road is literally carved out of solid schist rock and it doesn’t look much different today than when it was first created. The local rock is so soft that under the traffic it quickly turns into dust in dry weather and to greasy mud in wet. Under these conditions it is no surprise to learn that initially motor vehicles were banned from driving on Skippers Road at the beginning of the 1900s.



The road bad conditions, with extremely large pot holes could potentially pop a tire, crack a rim, or screw up your cars allignment. In most places it’s too narrow for vehicles to pass each other, there are no guardrails, and the drop-offs leave absolutely no room for error. Today, Skippers Road is very much a tourist attraction. It is protected by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust since 15 December 2006 under the register number 7684. Although much of the road remains as it did in the nineteenth century, the topography, harsh climate, widening, and regular maintenance have led to the loss of some significant features, including some of its stone walls, famous features intended to prevent vehicles from toppling off the road.

There are some basic rules for this road. The road is narrow and prone to slips. Caravans and trailers are not suitable on this road. In winter snow can close the road. Some vehicles are not insured past this point. No turn around for 6 km. Tourist traffic has been a significant user of the road since it was constructed and, 116 years since it opened, it can be considered one of the most enduring tourist attractions in New Zealand history. Many tourists visit just to experience the road, a remarkable testimony to its attractions. Today tourism is the road's biggest user, with many people coming to see the road or use it as a means of access to bungy jumping operations or white water rafting. Skippers Road is an iconic New Zealand road of outstanding heritage significance.



One of the most famous places on this road is the Skippers Bridge. At 96 m long and 90 m high, the Skippers suspension bridge over the Shotover River near Queenstown in Central Otago is one of the most spectacular in New Zealand.Building of this bridge was done as early as 1866.It crossed the river only 6 metres above the water and was prone to damage from flooding. It was replaced in 1871 but rebuilt at the same place. Suspended on 14 wire cables, the bridge provided access to the Skippers gold-mining settlement, which was once the largest on the Shotover River. Opened in March 1901 it’s the most spectacular of its kind in New Zealand. On the terrace above is a virtual ghost town, the remnants of Skippers Township, once the largest gold settlement on the Shotover River.Even though the completion of the existing Skippers Bridge was done after the gold rush was over, it is today one of the major attractions for visitors to Skippers Canyon as it spans a gorge with sheer rock faces on both sides. The bridge is 91.4 metres (m) above the river, making it the highest suspension bridge in New Zealand. This single lane traffic bridge is 2.2m-wide and its span is 96.3m. The deck and stiffening truss were constructed in timber.

mehn, na narrow and crooked way wey lead to heaven be dis or na the way to otueke be dat..., I wish anybody wey wan pass dis road goodluck sha...

penisilin:
mehn, na narrow and crooked way wey lead to heaven be dis or na the way to otueke be dat..., I wish anybody wey wan pass dis road goodluck sha...

any mistake na death

One small mistake and you are history

Obara jesu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kiowy:
Obara jesu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROAD TO HELL

Wetin person dey find for this kind road ?

may be an road to paradise. cos I heath it's narrow

100Cents:
Wetin person dey find for this kind road ?

Na road to heaven oh

na only for film i dey see dis kind road ooo. safe journey tu all travelers on it