New Zealand Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia · Public domain
The cut
250 metres, to scale.
A slice through Poolburn 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: Great Pyramid · 139 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. On one side the ground was still rising 12 km out: the true rim is further away and the canyon deeper.
250m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
15.2km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
21°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
336m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In January the afternoon reaches 22 °C. The best months to hike are from December to March.
- 22°20°Jan
- 22°20°Feb
- 19°17°Mar
- 15°13°Apr
- 11°9°May
- 7°6°Jun
- 7°5°Jul
- 9°7°Aug
- 12°10°Sep
- 14°12°Oct
- 17°15°Nov
- 20°18°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.
Canyon in New Zealand
Poolburn Gorge is a canyon in New Zealand, cut by the Ida Burn river. The relief model measures 250 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 288 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 15 km wide where the cut was taken.
Getting there.
- Wanaka Airport (WKA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 53 km in a straight lineCar hire at ZQN airport (Queenstown)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
- From December 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 Ida Burn runs highest from May to January.
The Ida Burn carries about 9.3 m³/s on average here.
- 9.9 m³/sJan
- 8.1 m³/sFeb
- 6.1 m³/sMar
- 7.7 m³/sApr
- 11 m³/sMay
- 9.4 m³/sJun
- 9.0 m³/sJul
- 10 m³/sAug
- 12 m³/sSep
- 13 m³/sOct
- 12 m³/sNov
- 11 m³/sDec
From about 6.1 m³/s in the lowest month to 13 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 804 km².
The Manuherikia 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.
- 1marked hiking routes within 4 kmCentral Rail Trail
- 2information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 4hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmLauder Hotel and 3 more
- viewpoints within 5 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
- car parks within 3 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- campsites within 8 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 Poolburn 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
Peakyas3 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 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 20 |
| Afternoon · rim | 20 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Night · rim | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | -1 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Rain (mm) | 80 | 68 | 57 | 67 | 77 | 65 | 58 | 56 | 62 | 74 | 72 | 81 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| Sun hours/day | 8.7 | 8.4 | 7.5 | 6.2 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 7.1 | 7.9 | 8.6 | 8.5 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | 20 | 8 | 80 | 8.7 |
| Feb | 22 | 20 | 7 | 68 | 8.4 |
| Mar | 19 | 17 | 6 | 57 | 7.5 |
| Apr | 15 | 13 | 3 | 67 | 6.2 |
| May | 11 | 9 | 1 | 77 | 4.6 |
| Jun | 7 | 6 | -1 | 65 | 4.2 |
| Jul | 7 | 5 | -2 | 58 | 4.7 |
| Aug | 9 | 7 | -1 | 56 | 5.8 |
| Sep | 12 | 10 | 0 | 62 | 7.1 |
| Oct | 14 | 12 | 2 | 74 | 7.9 |
| Nov | 17 | 15 | 4 | 72 | 8.6 |
| Dec | 20 | 18 | 6 | 81 | 8.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (336 m) and the rim (624 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 | 33% | 138% | 78% | 73% | 37% | 68% | 97% | 48% | 139% | 87% | 66% | 78% |
| 2021 | 164% | 36% | 51% | 64% | 92% | 82% | 126% | 91% | 100% | 67% | 104% | 116% |
| 2022 | 37% | 160% | 36% | 58% | 54% | 129% | 246% | 153% | 65% | 80% | 114% | 69% |
| 2023 | 33% | 92% | 180% | 68% | 131% | 74% | 103% | 65% | 181% | 79% | 72% | 70% |
| 2024 | 87% | 47% | 81% | 111% | 42% | 78% | 129% | 118% | 156% | 209% | 77% | 76% |
| 2025 | 62% | 45% | 78% | 107% | 90% | 148% | 52% | 56% | 142% | 173% | 68% | 103% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Poolburn Gorge
New Zealand
- 250 mDepth
- 15 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 21°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q16898688) · 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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