Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → West Coast → Fox River Cave

Location: Punakaiki area, West Coast, New Zealand

Red Tape/Notes: Closed indefinitely.

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

This great cave has been a tourist destination since 1906. Unfortunately, it’s been closed due to a large slip at the entrance for the past couple of years and the DoC does not seem to have any plans to reopen it. All signs for the cave have been removed and a barrier has been set up blocking the trail to the cave where it branches off from the Inland Pack Track and the trail is no longer maintained. The DoC website used to contain a notice about the cave’s closure, but all mention of the cave seems to have been removed from their site. Bummer, because it was/is a great cave. But…safety first. New Zealand is pretty generous when it comes to let us make our own safety choices – they don’t go bananas restricting places for fear of lawsuits like the US does, so when something is closed, try to respect their choices. There are other cool things to do in the area, like visiting the Ballroom Overhang.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → West Coast → Fox River Cave