Roaring Billy Falls

Waterfall in Haast Pass, New Zealand

43°55′59″S 169°17′40″E / 43.93306°S 169.29444°E / -43.93306; 169.29444TypeCascadeTotal height30 metres (98 ft)WatercourseThe Roaring Billy

Roaring Billy Falls is a waterfall in Mount Aspiring National Park, Westland District, New Zealand. It is located in the Haast River valley, around 30 km (19 mi) inland from Haast, near Eighteen Mile Bluff on State Highway 6. The falls are a 30-metre-high (98 ft) cascade on The Roaring Billy stream.^[1]^[2] The bottom of the cascade is at an elevation of around 80 metres (262 ft) where it flows into the Haast River.^[3]

Viewing point and walkway

A viewing point is accessible via a one-kilometre-return (0.62 mi) walkway from the carpark on State Highway 6. The walkway is a gravel and boardwalk path that passes through silver beech and podocarp forest to the gravel bed of the Haast River where there is a view of the falls on the opposite side of the river. The forest understory along the walk has a dense growth of tree ferns.^[4]

Vegetation

The path to the viewing point passes through forest on a fertile alluvial terrace with a wide diversity of rainforest plants.^[5]

The canopy consists of silver beech (Nothofagus menziesii), southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) and kāmahi (Weinmannia racemosa), and a wide range of podocarps including miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), mataī (Prumnopitys taxifolia), kahikitea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and Hall's tōtara (Podocarpus laetus). Beneath the canopy there is māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), patē (Schefflera digitata), mountain horopito (Pseudowintera colorata), wineberry (Aristotelia serrata), tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata) and Coprosma rotundifolia.^[5]

Tree ferns are abundant, mostly the soft tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) and wheki - the rough tree fern (Dicksonia squarrosa). There are also many smaller ferns including crown fern (Lomaria discolor), hound's tongue fern (Cynoglossum officinale), water fern (Ceratopteris thalictroides), prickly shield fern (Polystichum vestitum), drooping spleenwort (Asplenium flaccidum), creek fern (Cranfillia fluviatilis), comb fern (Schizaea fistulosa), crepe fern (Leptopteris hymenophylloides), Colenso's hard fern (or waterfall fern) (Austroblechnum colensoi) and common strap fern (Notogrammitis billardierei). Some filmy ferns are also present.^[5]

References

^ "Place name detail: The Roaring Billy". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
^ "Roaring Billy Falls". waterfalls.co.nz. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
^ "NZ Topo Map - Roaring Billy Falls".
^ "Walks along Haast Highway - Mount Aspiring National Park walks" (PDF). Department of Conservation. November 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kerry-Jayne Wilson (2017). West Coast Walking: A naturalist's guide (2nd ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. ISBN 978-1-927145-42-5. OL 29806566M. Wikidata Q98762244.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roaring Billy Falls.

Roaring Billy Falls walk at the Department of Conservation
Roaring Billy Falls at the World of Waterfalls

Mount Aspiring National Park, New Zealand

Mountains

Mount Aspiring / Tititea
Mount Brewster
Mount Earnslaw
Mount Franklin

Mountain ranges

Humboldt Mountains

Glaciers

Gorges and mountain passes

Rivers

Waterfalls

Bridal Veil Falls
Fantail Falls
Roaring Billy Falls
Thunder Creek Falls

Walking tracks

Other

v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Spoon River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Naihi River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River