Koropuku Falls - Catlins

I never cease to be amazed at the stories behind some of the beautiful places we have in New Zealand. Sharing these blogs is not just about the beauty and fun, but about these great and often forgotten people, that made our lives that little bit more pleasurable.

Koropuku Falls is a 10-metre waterfall on the western side of the Catlins in Catlins Conservation Park. It sits near the Southern Scenic Route on the Chaslands Highway. The sign is easy to miss, but the site appears on Google Maps and Topo NZ. The track is not an official DOC track, even though it lies inside a conservation area.

The walk to the falls takes about 15 minutes each way.

Two local men, Wayne Allen and Peter Hill, built the narrow path over 15 years.

They carried 2,000 punga logs into the forest to cover the muddy ground.

This makes the track different from the wider gravel paths common in the Catlins and gives visitors a closer feel of the rainforest.

The walk leads through dense rainforest and feels especially lush when wet. The last part follows a stream and shows rocks, trees, ferns, moss and lichen.

The waterfall sits in a natural Amphitheatre of rock walls and greenery and is one of the prettiest waterfall walks in the area.