Parking
No road access at the spur. Reach it on foot from the Coast Track; from Torrent Bay Village Campsite, the signed turnoff is about 15 minutes along the high-tide route toward Anchorage.
Overview
About Cascade Falls Track
Why go
- A tucked-away waterfall reached from the Coast Track
- Short enough to add to a coastal day walk
Heads up
- Steep stretches and a section close to the hillside edge
- The Coast Track approach adds time before the spur
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Abel Tasman map
Full mapElevation22–137 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Abel Tasman Tour Guide
Your drive to Cascade Falls Track, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Abel Tasman National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
More stories near here in the app
- Mārahau and Te Waharoa
- Abel Tasman Centre
- A Fern's Hidden Generation
- 23 audio storiesacross Abel Tasman’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, New Zealand Fur Seal, Little Penguin, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 43 trails, 65 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Cascade Falls Track
A short waterfall detourCascade Falls Track is a 1.
Cascade Falls Track is a 1.6-mile out-and-back spur from the Abel Tasman Coast Track to a waterfall tucked into native bush. The falls tumble over broad rock shelves into a pool, making this a worthwhile break if you are already walking the coast and want something away from the beach. The mapped mileage covers the return on the spur from its signed junction, not the walk on the Coast Track to reach it. The full side trip from Torrent Bay is about 1½ hours return; allow roughly an hour for the spur itself.
Steep in placesThe marked path climbs in parts and undulates through bush before a short drop to the water.
The marked path climbs in parts and undulates through bush before a short drop to the water. One route description notes a stretch close to the hillside edge, so stay on the marked tread and take care there. It is short, but it is not a level walk.
Reaching the turnoffThere is no road access at Cascade Falls.
There is no road access at Cascade Falls. Reach the signed spur from the Coast Track; from Torrent Bay Village Campsite, it is about 15 minutes along the high-tide route toward Anchorage. Dogs are not allowed on the Coast Track. At the falls, keep some of the layered ledges and pool in frame so the stepped shape of the cascade comes through.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Abel Tasman
10 sightingsKeaMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
54 sightingsNew Zealand Fur SealMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
20 sightingsLittle PenguinMost seen around 9 PMSighting map
21 sightingsSouth Island KākāMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
526 sightingsWekaMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
16 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Abel Tasman. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
