Roaring Billy Falls

Roaring Billy Falls is a 30 m cascade that drops over boulders into the Haast River. A 1 km return track from the Haast Highway car park leads to a viewpoint on the riverbank; allow about 25 minutes. It’s a worthwhile leg-stretch for the forest and river scenery, but the falls stay across the broad gravel channel. Choose it for the whole riverside setting, not an up-close waterfall encounter.

The easy track passes lush podocarp and silver beech bush, including miro, mataī and silver tawhai, with tree ferns in the understory. Give the vegetation some attention instead of treating the walk only as a lead-in: the shaded forest is one of the stop’s strongest parts. At the end, the trees open onto the stony riverbed and the opposite hillside. The route is fully accessible to wheelchair and buggy users.

From the viewpoint, look across the wide riverbed for the falls splitting into white channels over large boulders. It’s a broken cascade rather than one clean plunge. For a photo, leave some gravel and river in the foreground; that gives the distant falls a sense of scale. Branches at the edge of the view can frame the forested gorge.

The car park is on SH6, about 30 km south of Haast. There are no toilets at the falls; the nearest are at Pleasant Flat Campsite, 20 km south, or Haast Junction, 30 km north. Dogs aren’t allowed on the walk. Biting sandflies are a recurring nuisance near the river edge, so repellent helps if you plan to linger. The path ends at the viewpoint; don’t plan to cross the Haast River to reach the falls.