Coal Creek Flat offers a specific seasonal reference point for planning a trip: cherry picking at Coal Creek Gardens. It is available from 26 December to early January. While the pick-your-own operation is open, picking is possible from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm. If you would like to plan this experience, you can use these dates and times as a guide.
Garden offerings and seasonal produce
Pickles, jams and syrups are available at the Coal Creek Gardens stand. This is different from pick-your-own: the focus here is on a selection of garden products to take away, while picking is limited to the seasonal dates and hours listed above. Both offer a different glimpse of what Coal Creek Gardens has to offer.
Stone House Gardens also offers cherry picking in summer. As this is a seasonal offering, check before you travel whether it will be available on your chosen date. This will help you fit the experience into your plans without confusing it with the more precisely scheduled offering at Coal Creek Gardens.
More places to explore in the wider Central Otago District travel region
Berryland, in the wider Central Otago District travel region, is another example of seasonal produce. The roadside fruit stall offers visitors samples of its products. Berryland grows berries, stone fruit and vegetables for direct sale to passing visitors. Depending on the season, these may include raspberries, strawberries, boysenberries, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes.
For a one-day tour, the Roxburgh Gorge Trail offers a specific time frame: the route combines 21 kilometres of cycling with a 13-kilometre boat trip, is graded 2–3, and is designed to be completed in one day. It follows the Clutha Mata-au River past eroded cliffs and historic gold-mining sites. The trail can be cycled or walked in either direction.
The Clutha Gold Trail has a different time frame. It is 135 kilometres long and runs between the Roxburgh Dam in Central Otago and Waihola in the Clutha region. The tour is designed to take two to four days; the easy cycling and walking trail is graded 1–2. Its landscape ranges from Central Otago’s rugged semi-arid drylands to green, rolling farmland and forest. For comparison, the Otago Central Rail Trail is 152 kilometres long, graded 1, and suitable for tours of one to five days. It can be ridden in either direction, has access points at various locations, and is suitable for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
The landscapes and culture of the Central Otago District can also be explored in different ways. The Bannockburn Sluicings are a scarred landscape shaped by a short-lived gold-mining era, and can be explored on foot or by bicycle along various trails. The Central Otago Arts Trail takes visitors to galleries and offers opportunities to meet artists in their studios. Along the trail, visitors can also explore sculptures and murals, each with its own stories.
Discover more destinations: Oturehua, Earnscleugh, Clyde, Millers Flat, Naseby, Conroys Gully, Patearoa, Kokonga
View the wider travel guide: Central Otago District.
