[2] The pass lies within the limits of Mount Aspiring National Park and forms part of the boundary between the Otago and West Coast regions.

The first European ascent was from the Wānaka side in March 1861, when the exploring survey John Holland Baker, seeking new sheep country, looked down from the saddle towards the West Coast.

The honour of first official crossing was claimed by Julius Haast, Canterbury's provincial geologist, who led a five-man expedition in January 1863.

He named the Haast River after himself, "directed, so he said, by his provincial superindendent", and returned to Lake Wānaka "nearly shoeless" after six weeks.

[4] A further phase commenced from the east at Makarora in 1936, and proceeded as far as the Gates of Haast, but was then halted for several years because of diversion of resources to the Second World War.

[6] The Haast Pass road between Otago and southern Westland was officially opened in November 1960, but it was announced that a complete road closure would be required in the New Year to replace the existing temporary Bailey bridge at Gates of Haast with a permanent structure.