Last updated October 2026
Upper Junction is a small hill suburb on the northern edge of Dunedin, where the old road north climbs out of the valley and splits toward the coast and the harbour.
The name marks a road junction rather than a town centre. From here, Mount Cargill Road continues toward Waitati, while Upper Junction Road leads on via Brick Hill Road, Stevenson Avenue and Borlases Road toward Port Chalmers.
Farmland, shelter belts and native bush line narrow roads in the hill country below Kapukataumahaka (Mount Cargill). A hilltop war memorial, on the site of the former local school, is the clearest public landmark, with wide views back across the city. There is no shopping strip here: it is a quiet rural-residential pocket for people who live on the ridge, and a scenic drive for anyone linking the valley with the harbour side or the northern coast.
Practical Information
- Getting there
- By road on North Road from central Dunedin, then Mount Cargill Road toward Waitati or Upper Junction Road toward Port Chalmers via Brick Hill Road, Stevenson Avenue and Borlases Road. Published guides describe a car trip on narrow, winding hill roads. A public bus stop in the suburb was not confirmed.
- Nearby landmarks
- Upper Junction war memorial; Kapukataumahaka (Mount Cargill)
About Upper Junction
Upper Junction is a recognised Dunedin suburb, but it does not feel like an inner-city street grid. Houses and farm properties sit along the ridge roads, with pasture and bush rather than a row of shops.
The useful way to picture it is as a fork in the old road north: the climb out of the valley reaches a junction, and the two arms go on toward different coasts of the city’s northern edge.
Dunedin’s official visitor guide describes that drive in plain terms. North Road, once the main route north out of the city, winds up through farmland and native bush toward Upper Junction.
At the junction you can continue on Mount Cargill Road all the way toward Waitati, or turn onto Upper Junction Road and follow Brick Hill Road, Stevenson Avenue and Borlases Road toward Port Chalmers.
A Dunedin City Council landscape assessment of a site further down North Road still describes that road as a district arterial connecting Upper Junction and Mount Cargill with the Northern Motorway at Waitati. For a driver, this is a slow scenic alternative to the harbour motorway, not a shortcut.
The Māori name of the mountain above these roads is Kapukataumahaka. Council documents use that name alongside Mount Cargill, the name European settlers gave the peak for Captain William Cargill, an early leader of the Otago settlement.
Published accounts of the skyline say that, from the city, Buttar’s Peak and Mount Cargill together read as the outline of a reclining figure. Upper Junction itself has no separate Māori name confirmed in the sources checked. The suburb sits in the wider landscape of that volcanic hill, not on the summit.
Day to day, this is a place of outlook and quiet rather than services. There is no verified local shopping centre, cafe strip or operating school. People living here drive down to North East Valley, or across the hill toward Port Chalmers, for ordinary errands.
Visitors who are not residents usually come for the memorial, the view, or the pleasure of the old hill road between the valley, Blueskin Bay and the western side of Otago Harbour.
Getting Around
Access is by the hill roads. From the city, follow North Road through the valley and keep climbing. The carriageways are narrow, with limited space to pass, and they are slower in rain, low cloud or winter ice.
Mount Cargill Road is the arm toward Waitati. Upper Junction Road is the arm toward Port Chalmers. Neither replaces State Highway 1 or the harbour motorway if you are in a hurry.
No bus route serving Upper Junction turned up in the council, visitor or news sources checked. Treat the suburb as a drive-to place, and check Dunedin bus information if you are travelling without a car.
Parking at the memorial is not described in those sources. If you stop, use an obvious road edge, keep driveways clear, and assume the hilltop can be windy.
History and Heritage
The hilltop memorial is the suburb’s main historic site. The Otago Daily Times reported that it was created in 1919 on part of the playground of Upper Junction School, where the men it commemorates had been pupils.
Seventeen local men killed in the First World War are remembered there, including four from the Brennan family and three from the Paisley family. Their names were placed on a plaque, and 17 beech trees were planted.
None of those original trees survived. A beech planted in 1925 as a peace memorial was still alive when the site was later rededicated. At that ceremony, a speaker described Upper Junction as having suffered the highest per-capita loss of any New Zealand community in the war. That claim is reported speech, not a figure independently checked here.
The school did not survive either. It was destroyed by fire in 1945, and vital records were lost. In 1955 the land was vested in the Dunedin RSA. A monument was installed, then the site fell into disrepair. From 2019, the local Remembrance Army and neighbouring residents refurbished it; speakers at the rededication put the volunteer effort at 1,500 hours.
On Armistice Day 2020 a memorial board was placed in the hall of North East Valley Normal School. The hilltop itself was rededicated in a public ceremony attended by descendants, RSA representatives, school pupils and former Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae. The newspaper account calls it a windswept site with views across Dunedin.
Before local councils were amalgamated in 1989, Upper Junction was treated as one of the outlying parts of the Port Chalmers borough, not as an inner Dunedin street suburb. That older boundary still helps explain the road pattern: the suburb is tied by hill road to the harbour town as well as to the valley.
A Dunedin City Council heritage study of the city’s landforms also notes quarries at North Road and Upper Junction Road, part of a wider history of stone extraction on the volcanic hills. Those workings are not described as a visitor site.
Getting Outdoors
Upper Junction is not a reserve with its own playground or formed waterfront. The outdoor character is the ridge itself: open farmland, patches of bush, and long views when the cloud lifts. The walks people use to reach the top of Kapukataumahaka start nearby rather than in a suburb park.
Dunedin’s visitor guide points to Bethunes Gully, at the top of North East Valley, for a track through pine and regenerating native forest toward the summit, with a longer option on to the Organ Pipes.
A separate walk through Grahams Bush starts in Sawyers Bay. Weather on the mountain is known to change quickly, and the same caution applies to driving these roads in cloud, wind or ice. Use council track notes before you set out; this page is a suburb guide, not a summit guide.
Where to Learn More
DunedinNZ: North East Valley: Official visitor guide to the valley and the scenic hill road through Upper Junction toward Waitati or Port Chalmers.
Otago Daily Times: Memorial rededicated: News report on the Upper Junction war memorial, its school origins, and the hilltop rededication.
Dunedin City Council: heritage landforms study: Council theme report on Dunedin’s site and landforms, including quarries at Upper Junction Road.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Upper Junction?
It is a hill suburb north of central Dunedin, at the road junction above the valley where Mount Cargill Road and Upper Junction Road meet. One road continues toward Waitati. The other leads toward Port Chalmers.
How do you get there?
Drive north on North Road and continue up the hill. Visitor information describes winding roads through farmland and native bush. Allow more time than the distance suggests, especially in poor weather.
Is there a bus?
The council, visitor and news sources checked describe road access and do not confirm a public bus stop in the suburb. Plan to drive, or check Dunedin bus information before travelling without a car.
Is there a shop or cafe in Upper Junction?
No shopping centre or hospitality strip is described in published guides to the suburb. For everyday shops and cafes, visitor information points to North Road in North East Valley before the climb, and Port Chalmers is the harbour town at the end of the Upper Junction Road route.
Is there a school in Upper Junction?
Not now. Upper Junction School stood on the memorial site and was destroyed by fire in 1945. Families need to check current enrolment zones with nearby schools or the Ministry of Education. North East Valley Normal School has a connection with the memorial, but it is not in this suburb.
What does the war memorial commemorate?
Seventeen local men killed in the First World War, including four from the Brennan family and three from the Paisley family. The site was created in 1919 on part of the former school playground. A beech planted in 1925 as a peace memorial was still living at the later rededication.
Who looks after the memorial?
The land was vested in the Dunedin RSA in 1955. Neighbours and the local Remembrance Army later refurbished the site, and it was rededicated at a public ceremony. It is a hilltop memorial, not a staffed visitor centre.
What is Upper Junction like to live in?
It suits people who want a quiet hill setting, views and a short drive to more services, and who are comfortable with narrow rural roads. It is not a walkable suburb with its own shops, school or frequent public transport. No house prices are given here, because they date quickly.
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