Roaring Billy Falls Walk (1 km, Easy) – Mount Aspiring National Park

Overview

About Roaring Billy Falls Walk

Why go

Wheelchair-accessible route through tree-fern forest.
A rewarding river view for very little effort.

Heads up

The waterfall stays across the river at the formed viewpoint.
Sandflies can be bothersome at the open river margin.

Roaring Billy Falls Walk is a 1 km return on an easy, formed path from the Haast Highway car park through native forest to a viewpoint above the Haast River. Allow about 25 minutes. The route is wheelchair and buggy accessible, so it works as a gentle leg-stretcher rather than a strenuous hike. The waterfall is on the far side of the river: expect a broad view, not a walk to its base.

Parkwolf’s verdictA worthwhile short stop

Map & elevation

The route

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Full map

Elevation57–67 m

TrailheadRoaring Billy Falls Carpark-43.93932, 169.28527

Keep this map with you offline in the Parkwolf app

Plan your hike

Before you go

Parking

Use the Roaring Billy Falls car park on Haast Highway (SH6), about 30 km south of Haast. No toilet at the trailhead was identified in DOC information; the nearest listed toilets are at Haast Junction, about 30 km north, or Pleasant Flat Campsite, about 20 km south.

Safety

Dogs are not allowed. The formed track ends above the Haast River; the optional boulder-bed exploration is uneven and does not cross to the falls.

1 active Mount Aspiring alert

CautionRob Roy Track: stop at lower lookout during avalanche seasonFrom May through November, end your Rob Roy Track hike at the lower lookout; DOC strongly recommends against continuing to the upper lookout because the track crosses active avalanche paths.Official details

Mount Aspiring alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Mount Aspiring Tour Guide

Your drive to Roaring Billy Falls Walk, narrated.

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 tour

Recorded for this trailhead

Roaring Billy Falls: Forest and River

0:00 / 0:26

“Roaring Billy Falls car park is coming up, for an easy walk through forest full of tree ferns. Allow about twenty-five minutes for the one-kilometre return on the formed, wheelchair-accessible path.”

Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.

Hiking Roaring Billy Falls Walk

Under tree ferns and beechThe gravel walkway passes through podocarp and silver beech forest, with abundant tree ferns…

The gravel walkway passes through podocarp and silver beech forest, with abundant tree ferns and miro and mātaī among the trees. The lush forest is part of the payoff, not just a screen before the falls. Look up into the fern canopy before the track opens at the bank.

Roaring Billy across the HaastAt the end, pale gravel and huge boulders frame the river and the cascades on its far side.

At the end, pale gravel and huge boulders frame the river and the cascades on its far side. Stay on the formed path for the accessible viewpoint. Continuing over the riverbed is optional and rough underfoot; it does not bring you across to the waterfall. Sandflies are often reported on the open river margin, which can make a long pause less appealing.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Mount Aspiring

All Mount Aspiring wildlife maps

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 map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mount Aspiring. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Roaring Billy Falls Walk