Falls River Suspension Bridge

Falls River Suspension Bridge is a 47 m pedestrian suspension bridge on the Abel Tasman Coast Track, between Torrent Bay and Bark Bay. It hangs over the inlet channel, and several walkers describe a gentle bounce underfoot as you cross. This is one of the track’s distinctive landmarks, but it isn’t a roadside stop.

The section from Anchorage to Bark Bay is 8.4 km and around three hours by the low-tide route, or 11.5 km and four hours by the high-tide track. The bridge lies along it, so those are full-leg figures, not a short walk to the span. The Torrent Bay estuary low-tide crossing is available within two hours either side of low tide; the all-tide track goes around it. A water taxi to Torrent Bay paired with a walk to Bark Bay is another way to reach the bridge. Dogs aren’t allowed on the Coast Track.

From the span, look along Falls River’s green inlet; the elevated angle makes the channel and forested banks stand out. For a photo, face down the waterway from the deck. Kayaks or a water taxi sometimes pass below, but don’t count on having one for scale.

Falls River rises in the Pikikirunga Range near Mount Evans, then drops more than 1,000 m in 10 km on its way to Tasman Bay at Sandfly Bay. From the bridge, you’re seeing the river as a tidal inlet, far downstream from those upper reaches.