Cannibal Gorge, Lewis Pass Walk
Quick Facts about this walk
- Location: South Island NZ
- Distance: 6 kms
- Time needed: 2 Hours
- Difficulty: Easy
- Wheelchair Access: No
- Route: Double back
- Elevation: 890m
- Wet Feet: No
- Toilets: Yes
- Dogs: Yes
- Mobile Coverage: No
- Last Updated: November, 2019
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Summary points about this walk
Points of interest along the walk
Point 1: Start Of Cannibal Gorge Walk
There are two areas where you can park the car, one is by the Lewis Pass Road, and other one is up by the toilets,
There is a shelter there, but it is a bit grubby. The same can be said about the toilets.
If you just want to stretch the legs for 5 Minute take a very attractive and short walk around the Tarn adjacent to the car park,
If you feel like a good leg stretch, walk to Cannibal Gorge Swing bridge and black.
The first 15 Minutes is down hill, then levels off to help soften you up, then uphill just to get the breathing going, then downhill to the Cannibal Gorge swing bridge. About a 30 Minutes walk, if you don’t stop to take photos.
Point 2: Cannibal gorge Swing Bridge
The walk in is easy to find and the track is excellent to walk on.
The walk in to the beach forest is a little airy, with all the moss hanging from the trees. This might be were the lord off the rings was filmed
Plenty of water around, great for waterfalls photos, Well it was on this walk, It rained hard all day.
Walking through the bush on beach leaves was like walking on a carpet, soft and quite.
There was a battle between two Maori tribes in this gorge, the tribe that lost, was soon cooked on hot rocks and eaten for dinner.
Point 3: The Gorge
The track leading in to the gorge was a little narrow is places.
It might be a little tricky if you were carrying a wide pack. But the views up and down the Maruia River valley is worth the extra walk, Even the changes in the beach forest along the river bank were interesting.
2 Responses
Is there a hut there?
Hi Georgina, yes there is, have a look on the DOC website here for more info: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/lewis-pass-scenic-reserve/things-to-do/huts/cannibal-gorge-hut/