Old Dunstan Road, also known as The Dunstan Trail, is a 4WD track located in the Otago Region in the South Island of New Zealand.

The road ranges from a sealed road to a graveled track. It’s 46 km long. Closed for about four months each winter, the Old Dunstan Road is best traversed with a 4WD vehicle.

Head south, through Patearoa and take the Linnburn Runs Rd turnoff (40km). This is where you can join the Old Dunstan Road, the ‘modern’ access. The original road now traverses private farmland towards an area called Blackball.

Old Dunstan road is a great fun drive in dry weather conditions but can get a bit hairy during rain. There are a few fords to cross, thus better use a 4WD.

The road passes through a spectacular landscape with ever changing views some of which made it into the second part of the LOTR trilogy. The rock formations are awesome. Toward the end, the road passes Lake Poolburn which was another movie site for LOTR.