On 26 February 2006 the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, opened Burtton’s Track. The track forms part of Te Araroa - the proposed continuous hiking route 2,924 kilometres from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

This picture shows a letter published in the Manawatu Tramping and Skiing Club newsletter Oct 2005 - from: http://www.mtsc.org.nz/news/MTSC%202005%20October.pdf The photograph shows Jim Burtton, who built the track between 1909 and his death in 1941, with tramping club members outside his hut in the Tokomaru Valley.

James Burtton was a Horowhenua pioneer who lived a solitary existence, but who also left a legacy, Burtton's Track', which is part of 'Te Araroa' - the network of walkways allowing people to walk from one end of New Zealand to the other.