At the top of the lower section (from Marshall's Road) where the old gate post stands, the coach road crossed the 1908 railway alignment, turned left, and ran alongside the railway tracks before it turned right and climbed up the side of Rongokaupo hill.
This is the Skyline section. The road climbs through the bush until it reaches the highest point of the road at around 2400 feet above sea level. Here the more direct bridle trail branches off to Horopito.
The cobbled road continues through the bush along the edge of the volcanic plateau to the big 1987 Taonui railway cutting which cut through and removed a section of the coach road.
The Skyline section of the Ohakune Coach Road has not been cleared (2009) and there are numerous sections where the road disappears in the enveloping bush.
Skyline Section Among the Trees
