Maruia Falls Walk

Maruia Falls Walk - Murchison

Maruia Falls Walk

Murchison

6 Rankers Reviews

5 Face-to-Face

7 Murchison

Your Nature Guide

Marios Gavalas's avatar

Marios Gavalas

Author And Researcher

Nau mai, haere mai

Nau mai, haere mai

I'm Marios, delivering the best of Aotearoa's nature walks to your device.

I've personally walked hundreds of New Zealand's tracks and spent months in libraries uncovering interesting information on New Zealand/Aotearoa. And you'll find a slice of that research on this page - enjoy!

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Photos

Maruia Falls were created from earthquake uplift

Information

Maruia Falls Walk

200 m return | 10 minutes return

A thundering waterfall on the Maruia River

Walking Track

Access

Maruia Falls on SH 65, 40 km from the junction of SH6 and 30 km from the junction with SH7. There’s a large parking area.

Track

From the viewpoint above the falls the track drops to a lower lookout with a side-on view.

Geology

The Maruia Falls were formed in 1929. Geologists can date this exactly to the Murchison Earthquake, when the magnitude 8 quake brought down a huge landslide. This diverted the Maruia River, eroding an old river bank, which then became the falls. At a paltry 1m in height they would not be worth the diversion, but after a year, as more gravels were washed, the falls increased in height to 5m. Today they drop 10m.

European History

This waterfall is popular with river kayakers. Check out the clips on You Tube.

Details

Feature Value Info

Organisation

DOC Nelson/Tasman

Central government organisation

Location

South IslandNelson RegionMurchison

Categories

  • Activity__walking_and_trekkingWalking
  • Free

Directions

To Coordinates

Coordinates

-41.8593020854199

172.253186607361

Latitude
-41.8593020854199
Longitude
172.253186607361

Nearby

Reviews

    • Nice view of the falls.
    • Amazing.
    • Great place to stop for a moment.
    Rating Count Percentage
    10/10 2
    33%
    9/10 3
    50%
    8/10 1
    17%
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    0%
    4/10 0
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  • 4.5/5

    Great place to stop for a moment.

    We loved the waterfalls and you can really see the fault line from the 1929 earthquake. Well worth a stop if you're passing through. Only a 10 min walk and plenty of parking and a toilet stop available too. This seems to also be a freedom campsite for self contained vehicles.

    Reviewed almost 8 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    The falls are impressive but would be more with rain.

    It is only 10 minutes from the carpark. Lots of sandflies.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 4.5/5

    Not mentioned in any of our guide books, but well worth a stop to view this wide falls.

    Decent sized carpark.

    Reviewed over 9 years ago and experienced in December 2014

  • 5.0/5

    Nice view of the falls.

    Reviewed over 10 years ago and experienced in February 2014

  • 5.0/5

    Very pretty waterfall, short walk down to the falls.

    Reviewed over 10 years ago and experienced in February 2014

  • 4.5/5

    Amazing.

    Reviewed over 14 years ago