Thunder Creek Falls

Thunder Creek Falls
Thunder Creek Falls
Location	Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand
Coordinates	44°02′17″S 169°21′55″E / 44.03806°S 169.36528°E
Total height	28 metres (92 ft)
Watercourse	Thunder Creek

Thunder Creek Falls is a waterfall in Mount Aspiring National Park, Westland District, New Zealand. It is located in the Haast River valley, around 52 kilometres (32 mi) inland from Haast, near the Gates of Haast bridge on State Highway 6.^[1] The falls are about 28 metres (92 ft) high^[a]^[2] and the base is at an elevation of around 120 metres (390 ft) where it flows into the Haast River.^[3]

The waterfall is the outlet of Thunder Creek, draining from a hanging valley created by erosion caused by the former Haast glacier and the Haast River.^[4] Over a period of around 14,000 years, the Haast River has formed a canyon, eroding the bedrock down by approximately the 28 m height of the falls.^[5]

Viewing platform

A viewing platform is accessible via a 200-metre-return (220 yd) walk on a sealed track from the carpark on State Highway 6. The track to the viewing platform passes through silver beech and kāmahi forest.^[6]

Vegetation

The vegetation in this area has silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii) as the main canopy tree, but there are also podocarps including miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), mataī (Prumnopitys taxifolia), and rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum). Beneath the canopy there is a variety of broadleaf trees including kāmahi (Weinmannia racemosa), māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), wineberry (Aristotelia serrata) and patē (Schefflera digitata). There are many species of fern including the soft tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) and smaller ferns including crown fern (Lomaria discolor) and hound's tongue fern (Cynoglossum officinale). There are also multiple species of Coprosma, including C. robusta (karamū), Coprosma ciliata, and Coprosma rotundifolia.^[5]

Notes

^ Several sources report the height as 96 m, but this inconsistent with the Department of Conservation sources, and the figure of 90 ft reported in The Press of 29 June 1972.

References

^ "Place name detail: Thunder Creek Falls". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
^ "Walks along Haast Highway - Mount Aspiring National Park walks" (PDF). Department of Conservation. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
^ "NZ Topo Map - Thunder Creek Falls".
^ "Opening up the Haast". The Press. 29 June 1972 – via Papers Past.
^ ^a ^b Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.
^ "Thunder Creek Falls". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

External links

Thunder Creek Falls at the World of Waterfalls

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[2] Several sources report the height as 96 m, but this inconsistent with the Department of Conservation sources, and the figure of 90 ft reported in The Press of 29 June 1972.

[1] "Place name detail: Thunder Creek Falls". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 17 August 2022.

[3] "Walks along Haast Highway - Mount Aspiring National Park walks" (PDF). Department of Conservation. Retrieved 17 August 2022.

[4] "NZ Topo Map - Thunder Creek Falls".

[5] "Opening up the Haast". The Press. 29 June 1972 – via Papers Past.

[Wilson-6] Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.

[7] "Thunder Creek Falls". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 19 August 2022.

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v t e Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand
Mountains	Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Earnslaw Mount Franklin
Mountain ranges	Humboldt Mountains
Glaciers	Dart Glacier Olivine Ice Plateau Rob Roy Glacier Volta Glacier
Gorges and mountain passes	Gates of Haast Haast Pass
Rivers	Arawhata River Barrier River Bettne River Blue River Blue Duck River Bonar River Burke River Cascade River Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu Donald River Drake River Fish River Forgotten River Haast River Joe River Kitchener River Makarora River Matukituki River Mueller River Ngatau River Okuru River Olivine River Pearson River Pyke River Red Pyke River Routeburn River Te Naihi River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waipara River Whitbourn River Wilkin River Williamson River Wills River Young River
Waterfalls	Bridal Veil Falls Fantail Falls Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Walking tracks	Cascade Saddle Track Rees and Dart Tracks Routeburn Track Routeburn Classic
Other	Haast-Hollyford road Lake Sylvan Pleasant Flat

v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Spoon River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Naihi River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River