New Zealand Mattinbgn ( talk · contribs ) · CC BY 3.0
The cut
1,059 metres, to scale.
A slice through Buller Gorge where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.
Standing on the floor, to scale: Eiffel Tower · 330 m · Burj Khalifa · 828 m
Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.
1,059m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
14.6km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
36°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
90m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
8 °C warmer at the bottom.
In February the afternoon reaches 20 °C on the floor, against 13 °C on the rim. The best months to hike are from January to March. The rim freezes at night from July to August.
- 20°12°Jan
- 20°13°Feb
- 19°11°Mar
- 16°8°Apr
- 14°6°May
- 11°3°Jun
- 10°2°Jul
- 12°4°Aug
- 13°5°Sep
- 15°7°Oct
- 17°9°Nov
- 19°11°Dec
Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.
Gorge in the West Coast region through which the Buller river flows
Buller Gorge is a gorge in New Zealand, cut by the Buller River. The relief model measures 1,059 m from the floor to the lower rim. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,460 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- View of earthquake slipnearest viewpoint · 1.3 km from the floor
- Westport Airport (WSZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 45 km in a straight lineCar hire at NSN airport (Nelson)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From January to Marchbest months to hike (estimate)
Plan the visit
Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The river
The Buller River runs highest from May to December.
The Buller River carries about 188 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to December.
- 180 m³/sJan
- 122 m³/sFeb
- 121 m³/sMar
- 176 m³/sApr
- 247 m³/sMay
- 305 m³/sJun
- 266 m³/sJul
- 252 m³/sAug
- 249 m³/sSep
- 277 m³/sOct
- 222 m³/sNov
- 237 m³/sDec
From about 121 m³/s in the lowest month to 305 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 4,354 km².
The Buller River from source to mouth on Riveryas — coming soon
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From the sky.
The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.
N
6 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 24 × 24 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the canyon.
- 2viewpoints within 5 kmView of earthquake slip
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmOld Ghost Road
- 1car parks within 3 km
- 1campsites within 8 kmLyell Campsite
- 1hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- caves within 3 km
- information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
In our other atlases
What else is around Buller Gorge.
The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.
Riveryas1 rivers in the canyon
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas14 mountains within 15 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather, at the floor and at the rim.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon · floor | 20 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 19 |
| Afternoon · rim | 12 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
| Night · rim | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | -2 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Rain (mm) | 134 | 108 | 122 | 143 | 163 | 176 | 139 | 143 | 149 | 172 | 137 | 176 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 17 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.5 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 7.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20 | 12 | 5 | 134 | 8.5 |
| Feb | 20 | 13 | 5 | 108 | 7.9 |
| Mar | 19 | 11 | 4 | 122 | 6.8 |
| Apr | 16 | 8 | 2 | 143 | 5.2 |
| May | 14 | 6 | 0 | 163 | 3.8 |
| Jun | 11 | 3 | -2 | 176 | 3.2 |
| Jul | 10 | 2 | -3 | 139 | 3.8 |
| Aug | 12 | 4 | -2 | 143 | 4.7 |
| Sep | 13 | 5 | -1 | 149 | 5.6 |
| Oct | 15 | 7 | 0 | 172 | 6.4 |
| Nov | 17 | 9 | 2 | 137 | 7.7 |
| Dec | 19 | 11 | 4 | 176 | 7.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (90 m) and the rim (1,304 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Seen from the trail.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 45% | 97% | 95% | 93% | 79% | 60% | 92% | 97% | 135% | 118% | 145% | 108% |
| 2021 | 94% | 51% | 145% | 100% | 112% | 103% | 114% | 147% | 110% | 101% | 113% | 120% |
| 2022 | 32% | 380% | 49% | 74% | 149% | 137% | 197% | 192% | 78% | 86% | 146% | 47% |
| 2023 | 73% | 114% | 155% | 154% | 158% | 70% | 112% | 88% | 113% | 73% | 68% | 125% |
| 2024 | 116% | 82% | 76% | 85% | 45% | 91% | 102% | 154% | 129% | 140% | 119% | 101% |
| 2025 | 54% | 93% | 63% | 196% | 109% | 147% | 165% | 66% | 134% | 159% | 90% | 87% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Buller Gorge
New Zealand
- 1,059 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 36°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q4996767) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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