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Cromwell Gorge facts for kids

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Cromwell Gorge
Rock formations and Lake Dunstan in the Cromwell Gorge.

The Cromwell Gorge is a deep gorge on the Clutha River in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It stretches for 20 km south of the town of Cromwell towards Alexandra. It is one of two substantial river gorges in Central Otago, the other being the Kawarau Gorge, located to the west of Cromwell.

Long associated with the production of stone fruit, the gorge — and also part of Cromwell — was substantially drowned in the 1990s by the creation of Lake Dunstan behind the hydroelectric Clyde Dam. This resulted in the closure of the Otago Central Railway beyond Clyde and the re-routing of State Highway 8 through the gorge.

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