Falls River Track

Falls River Track is an about 7 km return walk from the Abel Tasman Coast Track near Torrent Bay to forest pools and small cascades. Plan about three hours return. It is steeper and rougher than the coast path: the route climbs on uneven steps, skirts a hillside edge, then crosses a small stream and low saddle before following Falls River upstream. This is the continuation beyond the shorter Cascade Falls spur, and the extra climb is what gets you to the river pools.

The signed Cascade Falls spur is a separate, shorter detour. Falls River Track continues beyond it, over a saddle and into the Falls River valley. If the pools are your goal, don’t turn back at Cascade Falls. The route returns along the same corridor, so the climb you do on the way in is waiting on the way out too.

The trail reaches a shaded stretch of river with deep blue pools, small cascades and large boulders. Bluffs along the way look over additional cascades, and the riverbank is framed by rimu and rata. It’s a good place to slow down after the climb. At the pools, putting one of the boulders in the foreground gives the cascades a sense of scale.

The turnoff is reached on foot from the Coast Track near Torrent Bay; there is no road access at the trailhead. You can walk in on the Coast Track or arrive by water taxi at Torrent Bay. If your approach crosses the Torrent Bay estuary, do that only within two hours either side of low tide; use the all-tide track around the estuary outside that window. Dogs are not allowed on the DOC Coast Track or its side tracks.