Trails › New Zealand › Southland › Earl Mountains
Falls Creek Route
Next nearby hike: Key Summit 2.8 mi · 4.6 kmExplore Earl Mountains →
Falls Creek Route other trails nearby (tap a dot to open it)
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NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0) · OpenStreetMap · Official page · Basemap: OpenFreeMap (OpenMapTiles, © OSM contributors).
7-day forecast
Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)Best time to hike
No month meets all three rules below at this spot.
- J15°6°533
- F15°7°337
- M13°5°463
- A10°3°415
- M6°0°471
- J2°-3°415
- J2°-4°353
- A3°-3°376
- S5°-1°461
- O7°0°516
- N11°2°424
- D13°5°560
Average high °C · low °C · precipitation mm per month. Highlighted: best months.
How we pick months
Best months are those where the 1981–2010 average daily high is 10–27 °C (50–81 °F), the average overnight low is 0 °C (32 °F) or warmer, and average precipitation is 200 mm (7.9 in) or less. Values are long-term monthly averages for the ~1 km cell at the trail point on the map, from CHELSA V2.1 climatologies (Karger et al., CC0), not a forecast. Higher or more exposed parts of a route can be colder, wetter or snowier.
About this trail
A challenging tramping route from the Milford Road into the Falls Creek valley, surrounded by impressive Fiordland mountains.
NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0).
Trail facts
- Length
- 2.6 km · 1.6 mi (DOC route geometry)
- Source
- NZ Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0)
- Difficulty
- Very hard (9/10) (Expert · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0))
- Typical time (DOC)
- 4 hr to bush edge, 6 - 8 hr to rock bivvy
- Official page
- doc.govt.nz/link/30421684d26043fdace0c9b9f89
- Mountain range
- Earl Mountains (Main Divide of The Southern Alps › Southern Alps; GMBA)
- Nearest town
- 50 km W of Arthurs Point (Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago) · GeoNames
- Park or forest
- Fiordland National Park
- Country
- New Zealand
- Region
- Southland
- Continent
- Oceania
- Route centre
- -44.8329, 168.0724
How it’s scored
Very hard (9/10). Official rating: Expert · NZ Department of Conservation difficulty (CC BY 4.0).
A score is omitted when we do not have an official rating or enough measured length and elevation gain to compute one. Nothing is guessed. Read the NPS method: https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/how-to-determine-hiking-difficulty.htm
Hikers can rate difficulty from 1 to 10 (1 = flat, short, easy walk for anyone; 3 = gentle hills, a little effort; 5 = moderate climbs, some fitness needed; 7 = steep or long, solid fitness required; 10 = extremely strenuous or technical; long steep climbing; experienced hikers only). The community average is shown once at least 3 people have rated the trail; until then the official or computed score is used when we have one.
More trails in the Earl Mountains
All 5 →Nearest trails
distance from the trail centreKey Summit
2.8 mi · 4.6 km · Fiordland National Park
Mistake Creek Track
5.5 mi · 8.9 km · Fiordland National Park
Gertrude Saddle Route
6.1 mi · 9.8 km · Fiordland National Park
Steele Creek Track
7 mi · 12 km · Caples Conservation Area
Deadmans Track
7 mi · 12 km · Fiordland National Park
Caples Track
9 mi · 14 km · Otago
All trails in Southland → · All 1,167 trails in New Zealand →