Skip the Line: Shantytown Heritage Park Experience

61 Ratings

Greymouth

Save

View Gallery (6)

Immerse yourself in the gold-rush era at Shantytown Heritage Park. Ride a steam train, visit a working sawmill, pan for gold, and explore over 30 shops and buildings.

Duration: 8 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

learn more

Highlights

Shantytown Heritage Park - Shantytown is ideally situated between the West Coast’s key towns, Greymouth and Hokitika, just 3 kilometers from the main highway (SH6).
Open Daily 10am - 3pm (except Christmas Day). It is recommended to allocate at least 90 minutes to fully enjoy the Shantytown experience.
Upon arrival, visitors will receive a…

What's Included

Inclusion of Goods and Services Tax (GST)

What's Not Included

Gold Panning
Old Time Photos
All Food and Beverages

Additional Information

Travel back in time to explore a recreated gold-rush village from the late 1800s. Uncover legendary tales through an engaging blend of experiences and exhibits. Take a ride on the Steam Train through native rainforest, witness the operations of a functioning sawmill, and observe the sluice gun as it blasts gold-bearing rock and soil from the ground….

Location

Shantytown Heritage Park

316 Rutherglen Rd, Paroa

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.1

(61 Ratings)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Ninniebee

Jan 26, 2026

I was somewhat shocked at the price, however the shared knowledge and friendly banter was worth every penny. - Favourite part, was the knowledge, bush walk. Amazingly replicated of bygone Era. Well done to the trust. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Fearless13882744237

Jan 19, 2026

A must do whatever your age - We thought this was excellent value for money and spent about three hours enjoying the walks and exploring the well-designed displays. There’s so much fascinating information, and the staff were absolutely lovely. The train ride was a highlight, and the whole place is filled with interesting things to see and do. Great for all ages—an absolute must-visit!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Martina

Jan 3, 2026

Entertaining excursion into history - Interesting open-air museum with various buildings from the time of the Gold Rush, lovingly restored. It was great that you were allowed into the cab of the steam locomotive during the photo break. Lots of interesting panels to live in time. We drove on after three hours for more appointments.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Ferreira_c

Oct 21, 2025

Excellent - Really nice to do Especially the tour with the steam train And the explanations by the staff...

Review provided by Viator

Sharonca1741kl

Sep 10, 2025

Visit to the past - Was great to revisit this quant historical place. Last visited when I was 9 or 10. So that’s a good 42 years ago. Charlie at the gold mining was great to chat with and now my daughter and I have our little bit of gold to remember, I still have one from way back. Yes place is dated but that’s the history of it. Make it a point to visit and keep this place going. Absolutely yum feed at the Cafe best tasting burger, nachos and loaded wedges and we’ll priced Lovely chatty staff also

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Davidej7433rr

Mar 15, 2026

Needs Improving - This has a lot of interesting things to see but sadly much of the place looks quite run down and needs money spent to make it look better. Also,I was surprised that the train journey was only 5 minutes long,

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Solo-oldie

Dec 31, 2025

Correction - I mistakenly said in a previous review that they didn't give a discount for Gold Card. I was incorrect, my apologies to Shanty Town.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Safari29349812041

Dec 19, 2025

Not happy about pricing. - Not happy that I've booked the tickets only to realize I've paid USA dollars. I live in New Zealand and paid an extra 30 odd dollars on top of regular price for something I thought was a deal because I was led to believe it was NZ dollars. There is nothing saying it is USA dollars 🤬

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Frequentflier495887

Aug 2, 2025

Falsely advertised by Tripadvisor - The Tripadvisor tickets indicated that the gold panning was included. It is not! That’s an additional charge. Then the advertised steam train is actually a diesel engine. The train engineers were very friendly and helpful. However the place was more like a ghost town. Absolutely dead. There was no vibe and the girl in the cafe was so unhelpful even though there was no queue. Don’t waste your money.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Juliebenjamin1954

Jun 16, 2025

Best Avoided on a Rainy Day - We visited Shantytown on a Thursday around 2 30pm in June. A friendly welcome at the reception area. Once inside Shantytown we chatted to the engine driver, who had just finished doing the final run of the day in his steam train. Not a lot of folk around, so we were often on our own. We went up to the sawmill site first, which means walking along a path through some lovely bush - but in our case, in rain. (We got pretty wet exploring the whole township - and we had grunty raincoats.) The sawmill at least offered shelter, and was interesting. It made you think about the tough lives Coasters led in the 1800s. We did not try gold panning as it cost an extra $10 each. We also did not visit the sluicing area, because it was further up the hill, and it was still raining. Back down in the main village we enjoyed visiting the various shops and community organisations. However by 3 pm it was so overcast that in some buildings we could not read the information provided about an exhibit - there were no lights. Not all buildings had electricity. We went from shop to shop fairly swiftly, as the site was closing at 4pm. We missed a couple of exhibits, like the train terminus. However there was no real urgency. The few staff we saw appeared to be pretty relaxed about us leaving. Our advice would be to visit Shantytown on a fine or cloudy day. The West Coast rainfall may add atmosphere but it makes exploring the village more of a mission.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $26

up to 15 guests

1 - Adult