The Tatare Tunnels walk is one of the most fun trails in Franz Josef. After wandering through pristine forest, you’ll arrive at a 400m long old mining tunnel, which you can then slosh your way through. That’s right - there’s plenty of water running through the tunnel and it’s pitch black inside, which makes for a unique experience!
It gets even more interesting if you turn your torch off in the deepest depths of the tunnel, where you’ll be treated to lots of twinkling blue lights on the ceiling! The Tatare Tunnel is Franz Josef’s very own glow worm tunnel and you can see them even in the middle of the day!
Here’s exactly what to expect on the easy Tatare Tunnels Track, one of the best things to do in Franz Josef.
The Tatare Tunnels Walk
The stats
Distance: 4.8km total
Elevation: 185m
Difficulty: Easy
The Tatare Tunnels walk is an easy trail which is predominantly on a wide gravel track and is a great family adventure. There are some uphill sections, but it’s never particularly steep.
Towards the end of the walk the path narrows and becomes a bit rocky. Inside the tunnel the footing is uneven but it wasn’t slippery.
Starting the trail: into the forest
The walk begins from the car park at Cowan Street. You’ll head uphill on the wide gravel path from the very beginning, but it’s very gentle.
The forest on both sides of the path is just gorgeous, with plenty of ferns and moss. The forest canopy keeps the path wonderfully shady and it’s a very relaxing start to the trail.
After 530m you’ll come to a junction with the Callery Gorge Track - which (if you have time) is another excellent short walk, with a big wow at the end!
The track to the Tatare Tunnels heads left. The path narrows a little but it’s still very well maintained and easy. A few hundred metres from the turn off the track begins to head downhill and then flatten.
The forest continues to be absolutely gorgeous and you might spot a South Island robin on one of the hanging vines, we saw several along this part of the trail. The predominant sound is that of the birds and the roaring river below.
Once you’re 1.4km into the trail you’ll see a path off to the left. We followed it for a minute and it took us to a viewpoint over the river. It’s a good view but the ones you get further along the trail are even better!
Back on the main trail and a few minutes later you’ll come to a long wide open view of the river. It’s beautiful and as you’re quite high above it, it’s a lovely vantage point for photos.
Around this point there is a big tree across the track - but it will no doubt be moved in time. Even so it’s very easy to pass.
Beyond this, the track starts climbing a little more steeply and the path gets much more narrow. It’s rocky rather than gravel but even though it was very damp on our visit, it didn’t feel slippery at all.
We saw very young kids manage it with no problems at all! Roughly 2km from the trailhead you will arrive at the tunnel.
The Tatare Tunnels
The Tatare Tunnels were built in 1897 to bring water to the gold terraces of the Waiho River. It was later used as part of a hydro scheme.
Today it’s a fun place to explore, although you are only allowed to enter one of the tunnels.
The entrance way to the tunnel is very atmospheric, it’s quite small, and absolutely covered in moss! Once you’re inside you can stand up fully though, so it’s comfortable to move through.
The tunnel is 400m long and as soon as you move away from the entrance way it’s pitch black. The torch on your phone is good enough to get you through so you don’t need to necessarily bring a torch with you.
The water levels will vary but for us it was shallow in parts and just above boot level in others. I would come expecting to get wet feet and kids might like to wear gumboots! A bit of water will drip from the ceiling, but not enough to need a rain jacket unless it’s freezing outside.
I loved walking through the tunnel and it was very easy. There are some rocks in there but plenty of places to put your feet to avoid them.
You can go all the way to the end of the tunnel where you’ll find a tantalizing view of the rainforest beyond, but you can’t go any further. You might spot a few glow worms on the way but they are easier to see on the way back when your eyes have started to adjust.
We found that the majority of the glow worms were in the part of the tunnel that no light reaches, you’ll start to see them towards the middle and end of the tunnel but you likely won’t spot them with your torch on. Pick a spot and turn your torch off, let your eyes fully adjust and look up at the ceiling.
You’ll start to see them appear as if from nowhere! There were quite a few on our visit but not in huge dense patches, the majority were in clusters of 20-30 and then a sprinkle of smaller numbers in other parts of the tunnel. They seemed to prefer the ceiling to the walls! It’s possible there would be higher numbers in the warmer months.
We did this walk in the day time but are pretty sure judging from other places where we’ve found them that you would also find glow worms along the latter part of the trail if you visit at night! We’ll have to come back and check another time!
Heading back
The walk back is really easy because apart from one very short section it is all either downhill or flat. We visited in the late afternoon and the shafts of golden light that streamed through the trees were glorious. It’s definitely a beautiful time of day to do this walk.
As mentioned if you have time, we highly recommend adding on the Callery Gorge walk. It has the same blue water that you’ll find at the Blue Pools near Wanaka, yet a fraction of the visitors. It was just spectacular!
Getting to the Tatare Tunnels Walk
The Tatare Tunnels Walk begins at the end of Cowan Street in Franz Josef. You can also easily walk from the town centre. In high season that might be preferable as there aren’t many parking spaces.
Look out for cheeky Kea here, we saw one that spent ages with us and every time we looked away it tried to pick up the boots we’d just discarded when changing to get into the car! Never turn your back on a Kea!
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