Denniston was the main township of a unique collection of mining towns built to service the coal mines on the Denniston plateau. It is accessible via nine kilometres of winding, sealed road from Waimangaroa, and it offers magnificent views down to the coastal plains north of Westport, Cape Foulwind and the mouth of the Waimangaroa River. Denniston was certainly one of New Zealand’s most isolated and difficult mining towns to live in the country. The current road was not built until 1902, with the first access being either up a steep pack track or in a coal wagon up the Incline. The fact that former inhabitants remember it fondly, and that people still choose to live there, speaks volumes for its past social values and enduring mystique.