It was of some interest to the settlers as the West Coast was part of Canterbury Province and it remained the only feasible route for some years.

When the West Coast gold rush started in 1864, it became a heavily used crossing and remained so until October 1865, when a dray road over Arthur's Pass opened.

They went only a short distance past the saddle before they were stopped by four days of bad weather, after which they returned to the Hurunui River.

[5][6] On 4 November 1857, just two months later, Leonard Harper set off from Mr. Mason's station on the Waitohi River to also cross the pass; he had Mr Loch with him and four Māori from Kaiapoi.

On behalf of the provincial government, Charlton Howitt was prospecting in the Hurunui River and he and his team cut a track to Harper Pass.

[9] In March 1863, after a surveyor pointed to the geological similarities between the Hokitika valley and gold fields in Victoria in Australia, the provincial government decided that a better travel connection to the West Coast must be found urgently.

The fury hit Christchurch in February 1865, when a report of 2,375 ounces (67.3 kg) having been shipped to Nelson from the West Coast was circulated.

The 170 miles (270 km) journey from Christchurch to the mouth of the Taramakau River was described as such:[11] The first third was by dray road on which coaches could travel; a third was of steady climbing, difficult only for a few miles below the pass; but the last third was hazardous, involving a precipitous descent and a dangerous river crossing on the journey down the gorge of the Taramakau.The track became so bad that by the end of March 1865, the provincial government advised against using the route, although it was the only feasible route from Christchurch to the West Coast at the time.

The tramp starts at Aickens on State Highway 73, as a footbridge gives access across the Ōtira River just upstream from its confluence with the Taramakau.