New Zealand 
In numbers.
May–Jul
Nov
Best months
108m
Elevation
The water at McLean Falls, month by month
It roars from April to July and from October to January.
The fullest months: from April to July and from October to January.
- 79%Jan
- 73%Feb
- 70%Mar
- 77%Apr
- 100%May
- 97%Jun
- 88%Jul
- 74%Aug
- 74%Sep
- 85%Oct
- 85%Nov
- 79%Dec
Best months to go, with plenty of water and pleasant days: from May to July and November.
Estimate from rain, snowmelt and evaporation month by month (NASA POWER, 1991–2020) around the falls. Dams upstream can change the real flow.
Getting there.
- Papatowainearest town · 9.1 km in a straight line
- Parking 640 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Invercargill Airport (IVC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 81 km in a straight lineCar hire at IVC airport (Invercargill)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From May to July and Novemberbest months to go (estimate)
Plan your visit
Stay, explore and get there
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
Seen from the sky.
8 × 8 km of cloud-free satellite image, with what OpenStreetMap knows around the falls.
N
2 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 8 × 8 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The line follows the river as mapped in OpenStreetMap; heights from the 30 m Copernicus model, which smooths narrow drops — the published height of the falls is the one above.
Around the falls the river drops 156 m in 2.5 km. Here the river runs about 49 m below the lower rim of its valley.
What is around.
- —viewpoints
- —waymarked walking routes
- 1car parks
- —swimming spots
- —picnic sites
- 1toilets
- —information boards and visitor centres
- —bus stops within 1 km
- 1other named waterfalls within 4 kmThe Shute
- —caves
- 1campsitesThe Whistling Frog Resort
- 15hotels, B&Bs and huts within 6 km312, Chalet 4, Bellbird Cottage and 12 more
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, up to 2 km around the falls (unless noted). A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Papatowai9.1 km in a straight line
Weather
The weather, month by month.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon °C | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 17 |
| Night °C | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Rain & snow (mm) | 88 | 75 | 72 | 76 | 92 | 73 | 66 | 61 | 69 | 85 | 83 | 83 |
| Wet days | 15 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| Sun h/day | 7.3 | 6.9 | 5.6 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 7.6 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Long-term averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, with temperatures carried to the height of the falls (108 m) at −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Not a forecast.
Photos
Through visitors' eyes.
Recent years
Wet years and dry years
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A wet season above 100 % usually means a fuller waterfall.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 57% | 163% | 85% | 92% | 21% | 63% | 142% | 97% | 142% | 107% | 61% | 90% |
| 2021 | 165% | 50% | 61% | 75% | 91% | 125% | 89% | 121% | 126% | 61% | 92% | 83% |
| 2022 | 46% | 88% | 21% | 98% | 90% | 89% | 210% | 80% | 79% | 86% | 85% | 69% |
| 2023 | 24% | 86% | 150% | 68% | 103% | 90% | 148% | 95% | 127% | 52% | 68% | 82% |
| 2024 | 98% | 107% | 129% | 113% | 69% | 113% | 109% | 87% | 140% | 175% | 97% | 104% |
| 2025 | 55% | 46% | 97% | 77% | 70% | 147% | 50% | 90% | 142% | 136% | 76% | 121% |
130% wetter than usual 70% drier than usual
Compare with the waterfalls nearby.
McLean Falls
New Zealand
- —Height
- —Average flow
- May–Jul, NovBest months
About these numbers
| Names, height, width, river | Wikidata (Q37515) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Relief, river profile, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Paths, viewpoints, parking | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.You are here
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit