#5 of 18 sights in Mount Aspiring
Sight · Mount Aspiring National Park
A five-minute walk to a 23 m fan-shaped waterfall.
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
Fantail Falls and the Road Builders“You're nearing the Fantail Falls car park, for a five-minute return walk to a fan-shaped cascade across the Haast River.”
Plays as you drive up to Fantail 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
Fantail Falls is a 23 m cascade where Fantail Creek meets the Haast River. From the SH6 car park, the easy return track is 200 m and takes about five minutes. Keep it in your drive plans if you want a quick river-and-forest stop, but expect to view the falls from the opposite bank, not from their base.
The waterfall spreads over dark rock into the river. Its name comes from that fan shape, not the native fantail bird. Frame the cascade with the Haast River below it; a wide shot shows how the falls sit at the creek mouth. Flow varies with rain, so the amount of water can change.
The short approach passes through silver beech, with prickly shield fern, horopito and broadleaf in the understorey. The track ends on the rocky riverbed opposite the falls.
From the late 1930s, a hydroelectric plant at the falls powered machinery used to build the first road over Haast Pass. The route from Makarora toward Jackson Bay was not completed until 1960.
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
ChallengingBrewster Track5.6 km · 7 hr · 0.1 km awayA steep alpine climb to a hut above the Haast River
EasyFantail Falls Walk0.2 km · 5 min · 0.1 km awayA five-minute return walk to a fan-shaped waterfall.
EasyBridle Track3.5 km · 1.5 hr · 4.1 km awayWalk a graded stretch of the old Otago to Westland route
ModerateHaast Pass Lookout Track1.5 km · 1 hr · 4.1 km awayA short climb to a timber-railed Southern Alps lookout.
ChallengingWills Valley Track15 km · 11 hr · 4.4 km awayAn unstable gorge approach leads to a remote four-bunk hut.
EasyThunder Creek Falls Walk0.2 km · 9 min · 4.8 km awayA sealed path ends above Haast River, facing a 28 m waterfall.
EasyPleasant Flat Walk0.2 km · 5 min · 7.4 km awayA quick forest walk beside a mountain stream
Lodging · 2.3 km awayBrewster HutA 12-bunk alpine hut at the end of a steep climb.Sight · 4.1 km awayHaast Pass LookoutA steep climb buys a higher view over Haast Pass.
Sight · 4.3 km awayGates of HaastBlue-green rapids under a narrow truss bridge make a quick stop.
Sight · 4.8 km awayThunder Creek FallsA five-minute forest walk to a 28 m waterfall.
Lodging · 7.1 km awayMakarora HutA small four-bunk hut at the end of a challenging valley tramp.Lodging · 7.2 km awayWills HutFour bunks at the end of a demanding valley tramp
Campground · 7.4 km awayPleasant Flat CampsiteOpen camping, a short stream walk, and Mount Hooker on the skyline.Parkwolf’s Mount Aspiring ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
