Jan 28, 2026 Part 2, Marian Falls
After our nature walk near Lake Gunn we continued up the highway to Marian Falls where the highway takes a 90 degree turn to follow a narrower valley between stunning cliffs flowing with multiple waterfalls to Milford Sound. We weren’t going that far this trip, but we wanted to see Marian Falls, and we were not disappointed!
We took a short hike up an easy track along the river as it flowed out of the mountains between fern covered banks.
The track then opens onto a wooden ‘viewing gantry’, or platform, cantilevered over the boulders the river is crashing down over!
There must be some awesome floods on the river taking into consideration the log balanced on the top of the upper boulder! The trail continues past the platform then narrows into a steep, muddy track going uphill to Lake Marian in a hanging valley above us. We opted not to attempt the 5 hour return hike! For several videos of the falls, check out the YouTube videos HERE! We backtracked on the highway and stopped at ‘Pop’s View Lookout’, named for a road worker who was killed in an avalanche on the Te Anau-Milford Highway in 1983.
From this vantage point we looked across the valley and up towards the hanging valley that holds Lake Marian. There is a trail somewhere under that vegetation up to the lake! We also looked down into the Hollyford Valley where Marian Falls flows into the Hollyford river/Whakatipu Kā Tuka river, where another famous NZ Walk, the Hollyford Track travels. We returned to our little cabin on Lake Manapouri and enjoyed our last night on the edge of Fiordland National Park.