Sight · Mount Aspiring National Park
A 57-metre fall framed by the Routeburn's forest and snowy peaks.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Aspiring Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mount Aspiring 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.
See the Mount Aspiring audio tourRecorded for this place
Routeburn Shelter: Choose Your Walk“You're coming up on Routeburn Shelter, where you can explore without tackling the full Great Walk. For a short stop, choose the Nature Walk, a forest-and-river loop taking forty minutes to an hour.”
Plays as you drive up to Bridal Veil Falls in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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!!!!”
Guide
Bridal Veil Falls is a 57-metre plunge waterfall on the Routeburn Track in Mount Aspiring National Park, between Routeburn Shelter and Routeburn Flats. It is a named feature of the route, and it can also be seen from the road approaching Routeburn Shelter.
The track follows the Route Burn, passes Sugarloaf Stream, then climbs to the falls and continues above a gorge. A swing bridge leads on to open grassed flats. The full Shelter-to-Flats section is 7.5 km and takes 1.5–2.5 hours; that estimate is for the whole stretch to Routeburn Flats Hut, not for the waterfall alone.
From the road, the falls appear as slim white ribbons on a forested slope beneath a snow-striped ridge. Keep the surrounding mountain and trees in frame to show the scale; a tight phone zoom loses the setting. The falls drop over metamorphic rock of the Torlesse Terrane.
Routeburn Shelter is 25 km from Glenorchy on a partly unsealed road. The Great Walk season runs from November through April; from May to October, the track is for people with alpine skills, equipment and experience. There is no food for sale on the track and dogs are not allowed.
Wildlife
60 sightingsKeaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
112 sightingsRockwrenMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
26 sightingsYellowheadMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
13 sightingsTūīMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
27 sightingsBellbirdMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
35 sightingsRiflemanMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mount Aspiring. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingRouteburn Track33.1 km · 13.5 hr · 3 km awayWaterfalls, alpine wetlands and a 1,255 m pass in one crossing.
ModerateRouteburn Falls Hut Day Walk19.6 km · 7 hr · 3 km awayTwo waterfalls and a high hut make the long climb worthwhile.
ChallengingTarahaka Whakatipu (Harris Saddle)25.4 km · 10.5 hr · 3 km awayA long alpine day ends at a shelter above Lake Harris.
ModerateRouteburn Flats Track15 km · 4 hr · 3 km awayFollow an 1870s bridle path to open valley flats.
ChallengingSugarloaf Pass Track8 km · 6 hr · 3 km awayA hard climb to a broad pass above two valleys.
ChallengingRouteburn North Branch Track21.7 km · 8.5 hr · 3 km awayA long valley walk with rough tread and Humboldt mountain views.
ChallengingSugarloaf/Rockburn Track16.9 km · 9.5 hr · 3 km awayAn advanced full-day traverse over Sugarloaf Saddle to Lake Sylvan.
EasyRouteburn Nature Walk3.1 km · 48 min · 3 km awayA short loop through red beech forest to Sugarloaf Stream.
Lodging · 3.8 km awayRouteburn Flats HutA good first night on the Routeburn, with the valley opening wide.
Campground · 3.8 km awayRouteburn Flats CampsiteA 15-site walk-in camp on the Routeburn's open grassy flats.
Sight · 4.7 km awayRouteburn FallsA 9.8 km walk to a cascade at the bushline.
Lodging · 4.8 km awayRouteburn Falls HutSleep at the bushline with the falls close by.
Sight · 5.6 km awayLake SylvanA gentle forest walk ends at a lake with a mountain view.
Campground · 5.9 km awaySylvan CampsiteA simple riverside base for Lake Sylvan and the Routeburn
Sight · 6.3 km awayLake HarrisA wide lake view built into the Routeburn’s high alpine crossing.
Sight · 6.6 km awayHarris Saddle / Tarahaka WhakatipuA high pass above Lake Harris, with a climb toward sea views.Parkwolf’s Mount Aspiring ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
