"Closed" tracks, Egmont

DOC may not want attention drawn to the fact tracks are no longer being maintained to avoid negative publicity over the diminishing infrastructure they are supporting. It's something that should be discussed in public. DOC decide what they do and dont maintain and don't seem to invite feedback from the public about what the people want. obviously the people cant have everything, but DOC are arbitrarily closing tracks with no public consultation theres a focus on a small no of highly maintained tracks that take a massive amount of money and resources to maintain and stop maintaining a lot of lesser known tracks that they decide shouldnt be maintained anymore. DOC say a track is "closed" but theres no law that stops you walking on an unmaintained track, DOC cant close a track arbitrarily. they just dont want the headache of people getting into trouble on the unmaintained tracks, ie getting lost or injured, so they make out that you can't go there anymore

Thanks, @zoneblue. That's awesome. I've wondered about both of those routes in the past, but so far haven't had enough time to check them out (against other priorities) whilst in Taranaki. Those look like some awesome views you had down Pyramid Stream. I have to admit it's often irked me how DOC slaps "closed" signs on so many tracks with the implication that it's not legal to use them. Taranaki is especially bad for this. I get that DOC's trying to stop people from going there unaware of the issues, but it's also a case of DOC asserting authority it doesn't actually have.

"DOC may not want attention drawn to the fact tracks are no longer being maintained to avoid negative publicity over the diminishing infrastructure they are supporting. " That theory seems far fetched to me. From what I can tell, most criticism about track maintenance seems to get directed at government funding rather than at DOC competence. I may be wrong.

Interesting route, Zoneblue. travelled the old RMT in that area, lot when goat hunting on the mountain, and the alpine herbfields above kahui are the best in the park, IMO. its my understanding, the old route around the Pyramid stream was "closed" due to erosion, and classed as unsafe? and if wasn't done in secret. some of the others 'closed' may be less justified. seems a tramper got convicted of opening these tracks, but now doc is looking for volunteers to maintain that same track been bit of a change in attitude maybe

DoC Taranaki have got quite behind on track maintenance in the last two years, i dont know why exactly. That it coincides with the restructure may just be coincidence. Or not. Places like kokowai and dover, are a jungle of grasses and fallen trees. However Lower Lake Dive was cut recently, and Enchanted and some others. The hunters were enlisted to help the track crew. I was a little surprised to learn that they do use staff for track work, and not contractors like they do in some of the other parks.

I just feel sympathy for most DoC staff. It's the kind of job you do because you love the outdoors and you want to make a difference. And then you have to work inside this under-funded organisation that constantly frustrates and undermines your dream. Great pics zoneblue! I've only done Taranaki once and that wasn't any time recent! But it did bring back memories of this rather unique area.

they might not have the budget for contractors now after budget cuts

@TararuaHunter: "seems a tramper got convicted of opening these tracks" Eh? What happened? @zoneblue: "DoC Taranaki have got quite behind on track maintenance in the last two years, i dont know why exactly." Maybe it's something about the landscape+weather, or the intent to mitigate environmental damage from high numbers of visitors, but every time I've visited I've had an impression that the track network on Eggie is highly over-engineered and bordering unnecessary. There are artificially constructed boardwalks, bridges, steps and ladders all over the place, and I've wondered if this then creates further maintenance expenses which are unsustainable. Or maybe it's just that other parks in the lower North Island get less attention than average in that respect and I'm used to it. When I've talked to some of the locals [of Taranaki], including a few of the inlaws, all that extra stuff seems to be the sort of maintenance grade they expect from DOC, to the extent that less than that is apparently a sign to them of underfunding and inadequacy.

@ izogi ", and I've wondered if this then creates further maintenance expenses which are unsustainable. " You've more or less nailed it. In fact from meetings I've attended with DoC people it is apparent that they get two main buckets of money CAPEX and OPEX. Or money they can spend of new capital expenditure, and a separate lot of money they can spend on operations. And due to some arcane budgetary black-magic I never quite understood, the CAPEX takes precedence. Treasury hates giving them OPEX. The upshot is that building new tracks, huts, bridges and flash visitor centres is at the top of the queue. Especially where there is a business case in places with high tourist numbers and demand. And if the asset generates a nice cash flow, finding the money to maintain it isn't a problem either. But assets that don't generate cash flow, have to compete for maintenance funding out of a limited OPEX budget .. the same one that has to pay salaries and office overheads, run vehicles, pay for 1080 campaigns, actually do some real conservation work and well ... you guessed it ... paying contractors to re-cut tracks that generate no cash pretty much falls to the bottom of the list.