The route crosses the Paparoa Range from Blackball in the Grey Valley to Barrytown on the Tasman Sea coast.

From around 1864, there was a gold rush in the Paparoa foothills, leading to the establishment of the town of Blackball.

Miners first developed a rough track up Blackball Creek to access prospecting sites.

In 1901, the Garden Gully Company took over the operation and in 1904 they moved a large stamper battery into the range.

Insufficient gold was recovered to make the operation viable, and the company was dissolved two years later.