Lewis Pass

{{Short description|Mountain pass in New Zealand}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox mountain pass

| name = Lewis Pass

| photo =

| photo_caption =

| elevation_m = 907

| elevation_ref =

| traversed = State Highway 7

| map = New Zealand

| location = New Zealand

| range = Southern Alps

| coordinates = {{coord|42.3797|S|172.4|E|type:pass|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

}}

Lewis Pass is the northernmost of the three main mountain passes through the Southern Alps in the South Island of New Zealand. With an elevation of 907 metres, it is slightly lower than Arthur's Pass and higher than Haast Pass.

The pass is the saddle between the valleys of the Maruia River to the northwest in the West Coast Region and the Lewis River to the southeast in north Canterbury. The small spa of Maruia Springs is close to the saddle, on the West Coast side.

Lewis Pass is named after Henry Lewis who, together with Christopher Maling, was the first European to discover the pass, in April 1860 while working as a surveyor of the Nelson Provincial Survey Department.{{cite book |title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand |date=1966 |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga |url= https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/lewis-pass | editor-first=A. H. |editor-last=McLintock |editor-link=Alexander Hare McLintock |first=Harry |last=Gair |accessdate= 21 July 2024 |chapter=Lewis Pass}}{{cite web |url= http://www.lewishouse.co.nz/history.html |title=Accommodation Collingwood – Lewis House Historic home self contained accommodation on the beach in Golden Bay |accessdate=16 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129230815/http://www.lewishouse.co.nz/history.html |archivedate=29 November 2010 }} Before this time the pass was used by the Ngāi Tahu Māori of Canterbury to transport pounamu (greenstone) from the west coast.Darroch Donald, Footprint New Zealand, Footprint Travel Guides, 2007, p. 499, {{ISBN|1-906098-04-2}} or {{ISBN|978-1-906098-04-9}}Laura Harper, Tony Mudd, Paul Whitfield, Rough Guide to New Zealand, Rough Guides, 2002, p. 683, {{ISBN|1-85828-896-7}} or {{ISBN|978-1-85828-896-3}}

State Highway 7 traverses the pass. The road officially opened on Saturday 30 October 1937. It had a regular bus route over it until Intercity's service was replaced by a seasonal shuttle.{{Cite news |date=1 November 1937 |title=Lewis Pass highway opened |newspaper=The Press |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/press/1937/11/01/6 |access-date=15 January 2023 |via=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}{{Cite web |last=McMahon |first=Brendon |date=21 November 2022 |title='Hallelujah': NZTA listens to West Coast village's plea after 40 years of lobbying |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300744964/hallelujah-nzta-listens-to-west-coast-villages-plea-after-40-years-of-lobbying |access-date=15 January 2023 |website=Stuff |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=West Coast Shuttle Service |url=https://www.eastwestcoaches.co.nz/ |access-date=15 January 2023 |website=East West Coaches |language=en}}

The highway passes through extensive unmodified native beech forest. The area around the pass is protected as a national reserve, the Lewis Pass National Scenic Reserve, which was gazetted in 1981.{{cite book |title=Canterbury (Waitaha) Conservation Management Strategy 2016 |date=2016 |url= https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/canterbury-cms/canterbury-cms-2016-volume-1.pdf |publisher=New Zealand Department of Conservation |page=61 |access-date=25 October 2023}} There are a number of tramping routes in the Lewis Pass area, including the St James Walkway. The short Alpine Nature Walk loop walk around an alpine wetland and tarn is accessed from a carpark near the saddle.