Coal Creek Falls is a very pretty waterfall with a gorgeous swimming hole at the base. You’ll need a hot day or a bit of courage to take a dip, as the water is icy cold, but it’s definitely a refreshing end to the walk!
The trail takes you through a lovely stretch of forest and is nice and easy, the perfect afternoon stroll.
Here’s everything you need to know about the walk and what it’s really like to swim in that cold water!
Coal Creek Falls
The trail stats
Distance: 3.4km return
Elevation gained: 100m
Difficulty: Easy
Starting the trail: into the forest
The walk begins on a well maintained gravel path and heads straight into the forest. The gravel keeps the track mud free even after rain, so it’s a delight to walk on, especially if you’ve done a few of the more rustic West Coast trails!
The forest is quite dense so it provides a lot of shade as you make your way towards the falls. The track does undulate a little, but it’s mainly level and there are no steep uphill sections whatsoever. There’s plenty of birdsong and it’s both beautiful and peaceful.
After 950m you’ll reach the river.
Onto the falls
As the path meanders close to the river you’ll be treated to a myriad of ferns and trees dripping in moss. It’s a gorgeous forest and such a relaxing trail. After you hit the river, the track starts to head gently downhill and for a brief while becomes a dirt path - it’s not a muddy one though and holds up well in the West Coast weather.
Once you’ve been walking for 1.1km you’ll suddenly notice a strong sulphur smell. If it weren’t for our recent visit to the nearby Brunner Mine site, I would have started to get excited, wondering if there was a hot spring nearby. However, it turns out coal also smells like sulphur which makes sense when you think about the name of the trail and falls!
You’ll soon pass a small waterfall on your left, which is more of a trickle, and then arrive at a viewpoint after 1.6km (from the car park). The lookout offers a lofty view over the falls and there’s a bench seat to enjoy it from. You can then walk down the staircase and will come to another bench seat, before continuing on to the bottom of the falls, which is just 100m from the first viewpoint.
Coal Creek Falls
The whole walk to the base of the falls is all on well maintained track. Once you reach the bottom of the staircases you’ll then be walking along the rocks to get a better view of the falls (it only takes a minute).
The falls are gorgeous, especially after rain when there is a more even coverage of water over the rocks.
It’s a lovely spot for a dip if you don’t mind cold water. We visited on a cool day in October and it was freezing but refreshing, it definitely makes you feel alive! To get into the water does require negotiating some extremely slippery rocks.
To mitigate the risk I would go as far over the dry rocks as you can, right to the end, and then carefully get in from there. I sort of crabbed my way to the pool as it really was incredibly slick.
You need to get right over the two large rocks you can see poking up from the pool to get into the water that is deep enough for a swim. Once you’re across, it’s a great swimming hole and plenty deep enough for a proper swim. Don’t attempt it if there has been extremely heavy rain though, as the falls could be too powerful.
Heading back
Once you’re ready to return to the car park you have a little uphill to go. Firstly up the staircases and then a more gradual climb for a short distance before the trail flattens again. It’s all pretty easy and a leisurely end to the walk.
Getting to Coal Creek Falls
Coal Creek Falls is roughly a 10km, 10 minute drive from Greymouth. There’s a small parking area which is free and has no time limit. There are no facilities as it’s just at the end of a residential street, so please pack all your rubbish out with you.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
