Craiglowan Falls (Dunedin, Otago) Traditional Cache
Craiglowan Falls (Dunedin, Otago)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
In the early 1900’s, Craiglowan Falls were on the grounds of the Nordrach Cottage Sanatorium. If you were a patient at the sanatorium, a walk to this waterfall may have been part of your medically-supervised exercise programme.
Craiglowan Falls 1908
Placed with permission from City Forests. Access is permitted on weekends, public holidays and weekday evenings after 6pm; i.e. not during working hours.
The ideal way to enjoy a morning’s excursion to Craiglowan Falls today is to park one horseless carriage at Whare Flat (turnoff at Longridge Rd), drive back up Flagstaff-Whare Flat Rd and park a second vehicle at Sanatorium Rd. Then walk downhill!
At waypoint C1, turn right off Sanatorium Rd and follow the well-cleared track (down steeply in parts) to pass Walkways of Otago: McQuilkans Creek/Craiglowan Falls. Use Timgrin's excellent route description. The track has been clearly marked by high-visibility yellow fabric ties. As you descend toward Bell Hill Creek, the track sidles above a log-jam in the stream and down to the McQuilkan Creek/Bell Hill Creek junction marked (10) on the map.
(Or if you want to go via Bell Hill Creek: Instead of sidling, keep going straight down to the Bell Hill stream, and come out upstream of the logjam to waypoint C2 on Bell Hill Creek. Clamber down the streambed until you are past the log-jam, then return to the true right bank and pick up the track again. The track leads downstream to the junction of Bell Hill Creek and McQuilkans Creek, marked (10) on the map.)
A sign points the way up the true left bank of McQuilkans Creek to the "Watarfall". Take care as you clamber up over some large mossy boulders- there are some big gaps and drops! Follow upstream to a large totara tree. Cross to the true right bank and continue to the falls. The cache is a clear 2.3 litre snaplock, completely concealed. Your geocaching nose will help you spot the hide quickly, but since reception is lousy an explicit clue is included.
Returning to the stream junction, cross to the true right bank of McQuilkans Creek and pick up the track. Follow the track downstream to where it crosses to the true left bank at waypoint C3. The well-marked track that goes uphill would take you to Smeatons Shack. Instead, turn right and follow a lightly-marked track down the true left bank of McQuilkans Creek until you come to a three-way track junction at waypoint C4, marked (3) on the map.
From this track junction you can turn right, cross McQuilkans Creek and follow McQuilkans Rd back to your conveyance. Alternatively, turn left and follow the short track up to McIntyres Rd at waypoint C5, then turn right and follow the road and track to Aqueduct on the Silverstream water race before you continue to Whare Flat.
This route is steep and slippery in places. Go with a friend, tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.
NB: "True left" (or "true right") of a stream means the left (or right) as you are facing downstream.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Explicit] Vafvqr n perivpr va ebpx snpr, qbjafgernz raq bs ebpx bhgpebc, gehr yrsg onax, nobhg fvk zrgerf nobir ynetr gbgnen ng fgernz pebffvat.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures