Baldwin Street

Baldwin Street climbs a spur in North East Valley at a maximum gradient of about 1 in 2.86 - roughly 35 per cent - which is steep enough that the upper section is concrete rather than asphalt, because asphalt would flow downhill on a hot day. The reason it is that steep is a piece of colonial administration: the street grid was laid out in London by planners working from a map with no knowledge of the terrain, and the lines were simply drawn across the hills. It held the Guinness record for the world's steepest residential street until 2019, when a street in Wales was measured as steeper; Dunedin challenged the methodology and the record was returned in 2020. Walking up takes about five minutes and leaves most people out of breath. It is residential - people live along it, and the annual charity race and the gumboot-throwing events aside, visitors are asked to keep off driveways and out of gardens.

History

The steepness was never intended. Like much of early Dunedin, the streets were laid out in a grid with no regard for the terrain - this part of the plan was surveyed by Charles Kettle in the mid-19th century - and the street is named after William Baldwin, a provincial councillor and newspaper founder who subdivided the land. Guinness recognised it as the world's steepest street in 1987, after a two-year campaign by the broadcaster Jim Mora, beating two streets in San Francisco. On 16 July 2019 the title went to Ffordd Pen Llech in Wales, but after an appeal by Dunedin residents led by the surveyor Toby Stoff, Guinness ruled on 8 April 2020 that steepness must be measured along the centre line - 34.8 per cent against 28.6 - and gave it back (Wikipedia, Baldwin Street).

What to look for

• The gradient - about 1 in 2.86 at the steepest, concrete at the top.
• The colonial grid - a street planned in London across unseen hills.
• The record story - lost to Wales in 2019, regained in 2020.
• The climb - five minutes up, and most people notice it.

When to go

Any time. Mornings are quieter. Wet or frosty conditions make the surface genuinely slippery underfoot.

Good to know

It is a residential street - people live here, and parking, noise and trespassing are ongoing local complaints. There is nothing at the top but a plaque. Fifteen minutes covers it.

Nearby

Central Dunedin is three kilometres away; the Otago Peninsula road starts in the city.

Key facts