WEST COAST: BULLER

Slab Hut Creek reserve is a small DOC campsite where you are legally allowed to pan for gold in the river that runs past.

It is in a really quiet location, set in a forest environment, and features a large brick barbeque with pizza oven on the side. 

It also has the distinction of being one of the very few locations where you can legally pan for gold, and keep what you find. Elsewhere in New Zealand, if you don't have a prospecting license, you can't legally keep any gold that you might find, even it it is on your own land.

We visited on a miserable wet day in autumn, on our way from a West Coast storm in Greymouth to forecast sunny weather in Hanmer Springs. So, we didn't really see the campsite at its best. We'd happily come back in better weather, just for the peaceful forest surroundings.

There is not a lot of room though, so be prepared to find it already full if you're travelling in the summer holiday season.