Waterfall Creek v4a4III**

Highest drop 30m

Public access, but courtesy call to Abel Tasman Canyons guiding company requested. Ph 0800 86 34 72

The guides will have the latest info on waterflows, anchor conditions and any new hazards. A call helps avoid traffic jams, and helps to keep everyone happy whilst sharing this wonderful place.

6-8hrs

More open, granite slab canyon, with lots of technical downclimbing and some excellent slides up to 17m.

Commercial trips are run on demand by Abel Tasman Canyons. If you’re unsure about your skills, there’s no better way to learn, than to go with a guide.

The CanyonTopo for this trip is available directly from Abel Tasman Canyons on request.

This canyon is fully described in the Canyoning in NZ guidebook.




5 Trip reports Log your trip

  1. Will Talbot says:

    The track in was in a lot better than we thought, straight forward for us to follow.

    A lot of down climbing in the canyon.
    The big dipper is a cool slide.
    Rather scenic.
    However, we accidentally rapped the 17 m slide, without realising it was a slide! We would recommend having a look at a photo of it before you go.

    Anchors are mainly bolts, with sling between them, one (or two? I can remember) tree/root anchors.

    You want a canyoning harness or a couple pairs of shorts to protect you wetsuit, a fair bit of time spent on your butt on some grippy rock.

    All in all, a good day out!

    • Date -4/2/24
    • Water level -normal
    • Anchor conditions -All in good condition
    • Group size -3
    • Time: approach/descent/return (eg: 1hr/4hrs/3mins) -Approach 2 hours 10 mins/canyon about 4 hours/ walk out about an hour
  2. Walk smile talk says:

    Fun trip, remember to take the pink markers up the hill on the way home, or else you’ll be trying to navigate a huge slip.

    • Date -19/3/23
    • Water level -lower than normal
    • Anchor conditions -All in good condition
    • Group size -2
    • Time: approach/descent/return (eg: 1hr/4hrs/3mins) -7 car to car
  3. Alex Head says:

    Great canyon. Approach track wasa little tricky. A slip along the edge of the estruary required following pink markers up and around. Track up spur was relatively straightforward to follow initially with good ground trail but we made the mistake of following the tape markers and ended up too low and had to bush bash for a while…should have read the description! We had trouble reaching the two bolts at R2, it didnt appear to need an abseil, just set a short hand line.
    All other abseils and DC’s were fine. Pools after R2 didnt appear deep enough to jump so were all DC’d. R8 doesnt seem to need an abseil was a little DC on TR and beautiful jump (best in canyon?!). R9 also DC’d on TR. all anchors good condition.

    • Date -2nd Jan 2022
    • Water level -normal
    • Anchor conditions -All in good condition
    • Group size -5
    • Time: approach/descent/return (eg: 1hr/4hrs/3mins) -6hrs car to car
  4. Greg Allum says:

    Great trip through today, 6 hours car park return. Stunning canyon with plenty of action.

  5. Andrew W says:

    Descended on 8th February 2018
    The steep part of the walk is really nice mature forest.
    The canyon is excellent and we thought it easier than falls river due to less flow.
    The guide book said it was a long canyon with a lot of technical downclimbing – I didnt think it was that long -But i’d say the approach is definitely longer than 2 hours 10 min.
    I think because granite is more grippy the down climbing is easier. There was a lot of slab which i find much easier than giant boulder garden. We found the down climbing on lower falls river/Fyfe River much more difficult.
    R1 is a great placement – you can choose how much flow you want.
    Keke falls and handline – looks like you can skip the whole thing on the TL.
    Retriving the handline was a bit tricky – our guy fell/slipped down the slab after uncliping the first bolt – his prussic on the rope caught him (Static) just before he got to the bottom)
    We skipped the 17m slide – we need to buy nappies and it looks huge.
    Also the last little slide was a lot of fun – a person blocked the flow with their body until it filled up and released to push someone else down it.

    To mix things up we walked back over the estuary and bashed up to the track since it was low tide. (which skips the two bogs which are quite deep i found…)

    Thanks again Daniel the NZ Canyons Guide book is really great.

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