Panorama taken from the memorial plaque at Cromwell Gorge overlooking Lake Dunstan just south of Cromwell. From here there are stunning views down Lake Dunstan and the gorge.

Goldfields Memorial at Cromwell Gorge - Central Otago visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Goldfields Memorial at Cromwell Gorge' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Otago.

European settlement of Central Otago in New Zealand was primarily due to the gold rush in the 1860's. Today visitors can explore the old mining sites left behind in beautiful scenery. There are museums in various towns such as Cromwell, Alexandra and Lawrence along the Clutha River. Just south of Cromwell in Cromwell Gorge and overlooking the southern part of Lake Dunstan is a memorial plaque to the era. The gold seam and panning area have been flooded by the creation of Lake Dunstan by the Clyde Dam.

This plaque is set next to Highway 6. It commemorates two Californians, Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly, who set out from Gabriel's Gully in search of new goldfields. They proceeded up the Clutha river, slowly finding richer pickings. On one week they panned 40oz of gold, and continued north until they found a very rich seam at this point just south of Cromwell. After collecting some 87 pounds of gold they returned to Dunedin to claim a reward and the goldfield. Eventually some 70,000 oz of gold were removed from the area in a four month period by the Escort and other miners.

The gold rush in Otago was short lived, and today the region depends a lot on tourism, adventure sports, skiing and other activities.

Car: From Alexandra take the 8 Highway north. This follows the eastern side of Lake Dunstan up the Cromwell Gorge to Cromwell. Here the 8 continues up the eastern side to Crippletown. At Cromwell a bridge connects to the 6 Highway which runs up the western side of the lake to Wanaka.