Washpen Falls - Trail Guide

This track had been on the cards for a while. In fact, I’d planned to bring my daughter along with another family to do it a month or so earlier. However, two days beforehand, I ripped my big toe nail off in the stupidest way at karate and had to postpone.

The falls are about an hour’s drive west of Christchurch, accessed by the long country straights of the Canterbury Plains. Just before you reach the small settlement of Windwhistle, turn right off Windwhistle Rd into Washpen Rd and then take the first left onto the farmer’s property where you access the walk.

An old woolshed next to the carpark has been converted into a welcome area complete with historical information about the farm and area, and local honey for sale. There is also a nice toilet facility you can use before you begin your walk. The website says you will be greeted by a member of the family. It seemed that we got the family patriarch - a very welcoming senior gentleman who made us feel right at home. We paid our fee – $10 for adults and $5 for children – to help maintain the track, and started on our way.

Immediately you are presented with a fork in the track. We decided to take the right which leads up through a forest of straggly exotics (a sign did give us the genus, but I can’t remember for sure - Douglas Fir, I think!). Here there were some treetop ropes and a cool long bench gutting out into the air. This was the first of several signs of the care and work the owners have put into the track and its facilities.

Coming through the forest, the world opens up again into a scrubby valley with an imposing cliff directly in front of you. It is the top of this that you will make for to see grand views of the wide expanses of the Canterbury Plains. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard a slog as it looks.

On the way uphill, you reenter the bush and come across some amazing rock shelters carved out of the cliffs. The picture with my really cool daughter gives you a sense of the scale. We enjoyed exploring around here, marvelling at the volcanic remnants and the shapes they’d morphed into over the course of time.

You will be faced with some stairs after this (I hate stairs on trails - what? I actually have to lift my knee that high?!). Look carefully at the handrails as you get to the top and note the time-worn smoothness of them - so cool! What a testament to how well-used this track is. It is such an amazing community asset!

The path continues through scrub up the hill onto a plateau backed by larger hills and looking out across the Canterbury Plains. Rows of trees acting as windbreaks for the sheep and cattle criss-cross the view. Up on the plateau there was no windbreak though! It was howling by the time we got up there which added a fair bit of drama. Even I was a little worried about being blown off the top! Check out our video to see just how full-on it was.

Thankfully, a large shelter has been built on the plateau, meaning we could sit out of the wind and enjoy the view for a bit. I’ll blame the wind for me not taking a good photo of the shelter.

We wandered through tussocks and dropped down the other side of the plateau, looking out to a ridgeline covered in pines. An interesting rock crops out from here - I am sure I saw a gorilla’s face in it. Early human civilisation? Aliens?

Very soon, we dropped down into the gully and arrived at the lovely Washpen Falls. After the wildness of the top, this provided a contrasting serenity. Washpen Creek sluices down a moss-covered shute some 10-15 metres high into a dark pool at the bottom.

The remainder of the track follows the creek back to the beginning of the loop, passing the algae-covered Stone Lake and a BBQ area constructed by the land owners.

This track makes for a great morning or afternoon out. It is super-accessible from Christchurch and a fairly undemanding 1-2 hour loop, even for kids (if my child could get around it without moaning, any child can!). An excellent way to ‘touch grass’, as the young ones say.

Special guest report

It was very windy at the top but it was worth it to see the huge waterfall. I dipped my hand into the water but I almost lost my squishy because it had fallen out of my pocket. The walk and the big waterfall was beautiful and cool. I think my favourite part of the walk was the big cliff face and it looked like a big gorilla. When we were at the top we were up so high we could see such a great veiw. We took a lot of pictures. I loved the walk. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Trailblazing Mike’s 9-year-old daughter