Inland Pack Track to the Ballroom Overhang

June 23, 2019 tarannosaurus

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → West Coast → Inland Pack Track to the Ballroom Overhang

Location: Punakaiki area, West Coast, New Zealand

Time Required: 3 – 4 hours

Distance: 12 km / 7.5 miles roundtrip

Red Tape/Notes: Multiple river crossings required.

What’s Nearby?: Punakaiki Cavern, Pororari River Beach Outlet, Truman Track, Maori Sea Cave, Fox River Cave, Gibsons Beach Walk, Maruia Falls

This rarely traveled route weeds out most casual trekkers by featuring numerous river crossings, which we thought made this particularly fun. The first major crossing is about 3 km in, after which the trail continues along beside the water for a couple more kilometers before following the riverbed the rest of the way (if you notice the trail branching off away from the river, don’t go this way – you’ll follow the water to the overhang). We lost track of how many times we criss-crossed back and forth over the river (7? 8?), but once your feet are wet, it doesn’t really matter. If you don’t want to have wet hiking shoes/boots, put on some water shoes and plan to leave them on – it’ll take way too much time to change shoes constantly. The water was rarely more than knee deep, and although route finding can occasionally be challenging, there are enough trail markers and cairns to keep you on track. A large sign marks the spot where you leave the riverbed to visit the overhang. If you’re continuing on, you’ll need to backtrack a few hundred meters to where the trail leaves the river, branching off to the right to continue overland all the way back to Punakaiki; the trail can also be linked up with the Pororari River Track. Otherwise, head back down the river the way you came to rejoin the trail.