The Catlins are an area on the southeast edge of New Zealand’s south island, with Invercargill as its biggest city. According to the NZ Frenzy guidebook there are some must-see spots there. So instead of heading straight to Te Anau (closest town to Milford Sound) from Dunedin, we drove through The Catlins and spent a night at Invercargill.
One of the must-see spots in The Catlins is supposed to be the Waipohatu Waterfall Loop. In this blog post we’ll tell you if the waterfalls are worth the hike. Spoiler alert: not if it has been raining!
The Waipohatu Waterfall Loop in The Catlins
The Waipohatu Waterfall Loop is a 6.5 km loop track, taking you to two waterfalls. It’s situated in Catlins Forest Park, meaning you’ll be hiking through thick forest. This hike isn’t that popular and the path is not that well maintained, but we managed to find the car park at the trailhead. Keep in mind you have to drive over an unsealed road to get there. About halfway into the walk you’ll come across a junction with steep paths down to both waterfalls. At certain points there are makeshift stairs to make the ascend and descend easier.
Even though the path is not maintained that well, it’s probably a nice walk through the woods if the weather’s nice. However, for us (at least for me) it was a walk from hell! It had been raining that day and we were up to our ankles in the mud. It didn’t start out that bad, so by the time we got to the muddy part we were already committed to seeing the waterfalls and were hoping it would get better around the corner. It didn’t. We should have just turned around then and there.
All that mud made the path extremely slippery, so I ended up on my butt more than once. We read about logs and bridges at muddy parts, but we barely saw them and mud was everywhere. Just when I though this couldn’t get any worse, it started raining. God, what did we do to deserve this?!
In the end it took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to complete the loop track that on average takes about 2 hours. We had a fight because I wanted to quit, sit on my butt and whine, and refused to go down the steep, slippery paths leading to the waterfalls. The waterfalls were pretty on the photographs, but it just wasn’t worth the trouble. When we finally reached our campervan, we both started laughing about the craziness of the whole situation. We were just taking off our muddy and wet shoes and pants behind our campervan when a big camper pulled up. Oh well, guess they had seen underwear before.
In the end it wasn’t all too bad and we still laugh about our walk from hell, but I wouldn’t recommend going out there when it has been raining. Not sure if I would have liked the Waipohatu Waterfall Loop in The Catlins if it had been a nice and sunny day. Better go to Curio Bay, about a 20 minute drive from here, to watch the yellow-eyed penguins at dusk. Awesomeness guaranteed! Make sure to arrive in time though, we were kind of late because of this walk from hell.
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Wow, this looks like a real adventure! 🙂
I hated it while hiking, but luckily we can laugh about it now. 🙂 It sure is a hike we won’t forget!
I absolutely adore the Catlins! I’m always telling visitors to New Zealand to go there – it’s such a hidden gem still. I haven’t done this walk yet though – and I’m not sure I will after reading this! haha.. Still, quite the adventure though 😉
Maybe the walk is fun and awesome when it’s been dry? I’m curious, so maybe you can do it anyway and let us know? 😉 You live in New Zealand? Jealous! We really liked seeing the penguins at Curio Bay, even though we were late due to this hike. Have you been there? Will publish a post about that next week!
we have been there before! You just gotta keep on going! Totally worth it for that stunning waterfall though!
Wouldn’t do it again on a rainy day though! But you’re right, just keep going and it will be a day to remember. 😉
Sometimes it seems the most miserable experiences make the best memories. 🙂 Glad you survived and can laugh about it now. It does look beautiful. Hope to make it down to New Zealand someday soon!
Hahaha, that’s right, Kelly! And the most fun memories. 😉 New Zealand is amazing, we recommend everyone to go there, especially if you love hiking. Hope you’ll make it there one day!
We and our friends did the loop in early Feb ’18, following the route in “NZ Frenzy.” It was beautiful, and there was no one else there (actually, we passed one couple from Australia, but it was, like, unkown). The weather was ideal, and the trail was easy, although it would have been a little better if there were some km markers to let us know when we would reach the top. about 2 and a half hours, but we stopped a lot for pictures. The waterfalls are reputed to be the best in the Catlins, and when dry[er], when we were there, the trail down and back to the falls was fine, although for the best views of the second fall you have to jump over a stream. As to Curio Bay, it’s too touristy for us. We had some great up close and personal time with yellow eyed penguins on Campbell Island, on our way back from the Ross Sea later in our trip (we were at sea for a month). Let me know if you’d like the video.
That sounds awesome, Dick! The waterfalls were gorgeous, so I figured it would have been a nice walk if it weren’t that muddy and slippery from the rain. Thanks for confirming and sharing your experience!
When you were on a remote island like Campbell Island, I understand Curio Bay was too touristy for you. Must have been amazing! You have a video of the penguins there?
Oh, and NZ Frenzy is the best, right?
I’m keen to do this walk! Do you know if it’s dog friendly?
Hi Sophie, I found a photograph of the track signage on the NZ Frenzy website, which has an icon of a dog on a leash on it.
If you end up going there, we’d love to hear how you liked it!
We walked it today with a dog (Labrador retriever) and six kids ages 3-10. Dogs are allowed, but must be on leash the whole time. As to kids, it’s doable from 5 years upwards: 3- and 4-year-olds needed carrying or handholding some of the time, but 5+ were fine and walked under their own breaths. It hasn’t rained in 3 days, so the track was muddy, but not ‘horrible’ muddy – more like ‘fun’ muddy.
(Hmm, I made a comment yesterday, but it doesn’t show up… Okay, try again.)
We hiked this track with a dog yesterday. Dogs are allowed, but they must be on leash the whole time. It was a good fun! It hasn’t rained for 3 days, so the track was muddy, but it wasn’t ‘horrible’ muddy – more like ‘fun’ muddy. The dog enjoyed occasional splashes in water when we walked along the riverbank, but she did not want to swim by the waterfall itself – it’s too turbulent and layered with fallen trees. (She’s a Labrador Retriever. By the waterfall she was actually trying to tug people out of the water – she did not like it there.)
We had six kids with us, aged 3-10, and they all did very well. 5-year-old upwards did the track under their own breaths, 4-year-old needed some handholding, 3-year-old needed some carrying, so I’d say it’s a track suitable for ages 6+.
Hi Maria,
I was a bit slow approving your comment, oops!
We’re glad to read you guys enjoyed the track and thanks for letting us know how it went. Are you on vacation in New Zealand? For how long?
Greetings from Belgium!
We are living here now. Came as backpackers in 2009, but then… never went back home. A temporary summer job lead to a permanent job, then residency, kids, a house, and now NZ citizenship. Pretty cool considering that in 2009 I was travelling the length of the country with a backpack, doing various farm jobs (pruning grapes, picking pumpkins, planting watermelons) and now NZ is home!
That’s so awesome, Maria! Guess you should be giving us tips about NZ instead of the other way around. 😄
Myself & my husband have just done this walk and your story was like I had written it myself!!! What an eventful experience, I wanted to quit also but thought “I’ve come this far, there’s no way i’m turning back”. It was wet & muddy and some of the steps were so high, my ‘jelly’ legs couldn’t help me up lol. With every step I was hoping it was the end as it never seemed in sight…the waterfalls were amazing but I’m not sure I would want to experience getting there again. Definitely needs better signage on how muddy it actually is!! Anyway…been there done that & not doing it again 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m glad to read it wasn’t just me, Nicky! But we survived, saw the waterfalls, and I promise you you will laugh about this unforgettable “adventure” later! 😉
What else you got planned for your NZ trip?