Parking
Use the Thunder Creek Falls car park beside SH6, about 50 km south of Haast. The nearest toilets are at Pleasant Flat Campsite, 5 km north.
Overview
About Thunder Creek Falls Walk
Why go
- A 28 m waterfall reached on a sealed track in a few minutes.
- Kāmahi and silver beech line the short approach.
Heads up
- The nearest toilets are 5 km away at Pleasant Flat Campsite.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Mount Aspiring map
Full mapElevation121–132 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mount Aspiring Tour Guide
Your drive to Thunder Creek 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 tourRecorded for this trailhead
Thunder Creek Falls0:00 / 0:21
“Up ahead is Thunder Creek Falls, a stop I'd keep if you only want a few minutes out of the car.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mount Aspiring Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Gates of Haast: Rapids Beneath the Bridge
- The Red in the Forest Canopy
- The Forest's Dusk Shift
- Pleasant Flat: A Picnic and a Stream Walk
- 80 audio storiesacross Mount Aspiring’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Kea, Rockwren, Yellowhead, and 8 more
- Works offlinemaps, 50 trails, 52 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Thunder Creek Falls Walk
A tiny stop with a big payoffThunder Creek Falls Walk is an easy 200 m out-and-back from the Haast Pass Highway car park to…
Thunder Creek Falls Walk is an easy 200 m out-and-back from the Haast Pass Highway car park to a viewing platform above the Haast River. The 28 m waterfall drops into the river on the far bank. It is a leg-stretcher rather than a longer bush walk: Five minutes covers the return; give yourself a little longer to take in the falls.
Through kāmahi and silver beechThe sealed path leaves the roadside and passes through kāmahi and silver beech before reaching…
The sealed path leaves the roadside and passes through kāmahi and silver beech before reaching the river-side platform. The waterfall stays across the water rather than at your feet, which is the whole point of this short walk. From the platform, leave a stretch of river below the falls in your photo; it shows where the drop lands.
Make it a quick highway stopThe car park is on SH6, about 50 km south of Haast.
The car park is on SH6, about 50 km south of Haast. The nearest toilets are at Pleasant Flat Campsite, 5 km north. Dogs are not permitted in Mount Aspiring National Park.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Mount Aspiring
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.
