A forest stream flowing through the upper Catchpool Valley in Remutaka Forest Park.
Grace’s Stream is a forested creek in Remutaka Forest Park that flows through the upper Catchpool Valley. It is best known as the watercourse followed by part of the Five Mile Loop Track, which passes through lowland native forest and groves of mature hard beech along its lower reaches.
The stream rises in the forested country below the Clay Ridge and McKerrow area before flowing down towards Catchpool Valley and eventually joining Catchpool Stream. Middle Ridge separates Grace’s Stream from Catchpool Stream, while higher up, Clay Ridge forms part of the divide between the Grace’s Stream and McKerrow Stream catchments.
Grace’s Stream is also associated with the former Grace’s Stream Campsite, which was permanently closed by the Department of Conservation.
The name appears to be connected with John Charles Grace (1807–1886), one of the early European landowners along Coast Road. Grace acquired Wainuiomata Sections 14, 15 and 16 in the early 1850s, with land records documenting his purchase of the three sections in February 1854. Local place-name research also associates the Grace family with Grace’s Hill and Grace’s Track, indicating a lasting connection between the family and this part of Wainuiomata.
The stream also has some ecological significance. In 2017, the liverwort species Cheilolejeunea rodneyi was collected at Grace’s Stream, with the scientific record describing the locality as lowland forest within Remutaka Forest Park.
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