New Zealand Gorge
Pororari River Gorge
18 m of rock, cut by the Pororari River.
Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
The cut
18 metres, to scale.
A slice through Pororari River 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: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 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.
18m
Depth
measured on the 30 m relief model
13.9km
Rim to rim
measured on the 30 m relief model
4°
Steepest wall
average over 300 m, from the relief
0m
Floor altitude
Rim to floor
Afternoons, up top and down below.
In February the afternoon reaches 19 °C. The best months to hike are from January to March.
- 18°18°Jan
- 19°18°Feb
- 18°18°Mar
- 16°16°Apr
- 15°14°May
- 13°12°Jun
- 12°12°Jul
- 12°12°Aug
- 13°13°Sep
- 14°14°Oct
- 15°15°Nov
- 17°17°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.
River gorge in New Zealand
Pororari River Gorge is a gorge in New Zealand, cut by the Pororari River. The relief model measures 18 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 47 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 14 km wide where the cut was taken. It lies within Paparoa National Park.
Getting there.
- Parking 1,570 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 1.7 km from the floor
- Westport Airport (WSZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 46 km in a straight lineCar hire in WestportDiscover 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.
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.
- 17viewpoints within 5 kmIrimahuwhero Viewpoint, Surge Pool, Putai Blowhole seat and 14 more
- 4marked hiking routes within 4 kmPunakaiki - Pororari River Loop, Paparoa Track, Pororari River Track and 1 more
- 1climbing crags within 3 kmWaikori Road Rock Climbing
- 7footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 kmPororari River Track, Punakaiki Suspension Bridge, Inland Pack Track and 4 more
- 2caves within 3 km
- 8car parks within 3 km
- 14information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
- 2bus stops within 2 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmMcMillan Rd Self-Contained Campsite, Coast Road Holiday Park, Punakaiki Beach Camp
- 14hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmPunakaiki Beach Hostel, Scenic Hotel Punakaiki, Punakaiki Rocks Hotel and 11 more
- 3restaurants and cafés within 4 km
- via ferrata routes within 4 km
- rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
- swimming spots within 3 km
- named waterfalls 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 Pororari River 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.
Cascadyas1 waterfalls nearbyComing soon
Peakyas5 mountains within 15 km
Coastya1 beaches 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 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Afternoon · rim | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| Night · rim | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
| Rain (mm) | 151 | 119 | 137 | 158 | 183 | 189 | 156 | 159 | 164 | 189 | 154 | 193 |
| Rainy days | 14 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 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 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Afternoon · floor | Afternoon · rim | Night · rim | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 18 | 18 | 14 | 151 | 8.5 |
| Feb | 19 | 18 | 15 | 119 | 7.9 |
| Mar | 18 | 18 | 14 | 137 | 6.8 |
| Apr | 16 | 16 | 13 | 158 | 5.2 |
| May | 15 | 14 | 11 | 183 | 3.8 |
| Jun | 13 | 12 | 10 | 189 | 3.2 |
| Jul | 12 | 12 | 8 | 156 | 3.8 |
| Aug | 12 | 12 | 9 | 159 | 4.7 |
| Sep | 13 | 13 | 9 | 164 | 5.6 |
| Oct | 14 | 14 | 10 | 189 | 6.4 |
| Nov | 15 | 15 | 11 | 154 | 7.7 |
| Dec | 17 | 17 | 13 | 193 | 7.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (0 m) and the rim (47 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 | 59% | 118% | 103% | 117% | 88% | 59% | 102% | 114% | 161% | 143% | 145% | 128% |
| 2021 | 117% | 52% | 165% | 114% | 113% | 122% | 130% | 157% | 127% | 117% | 139% | 126% |
| 2022 | 32% | 396% | 46% | 78% | 173% | 159% | 185% | 203% | 80% | 111% | 163% | 46% |
| 2023 | 76% | 111% | 180% | 173% | 181% | 77% | 110% | 100% | 131% | 89% | 68% | 155% |
| 2024 | 142% | 97% | 86% | 97% | 48% | 96% | 110% | 184% | 156% | 165% | 147% | 124% |
| 2025 | 42% | 94% | 54% | 201% | 113% | 149% | 175% | 76% | 162% | 202% | 101% | 103% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Compare with the neighbours.
Pororari River Gorge
New Zealand
- 18 mDepth
- 14 kmRim to rim
- —Length
- 4°Steepest wall
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length | Wikidata (Q49343160) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| 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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