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South Island

Start: Queenstown
Travel Time: 8 hours
Difficulty: 4
Minimum Age: 15 Minimum Weight: 40kg Maximum Weight: 120kg

The Routeburn Full-Day Canyoning Adventure is an approximately eight-hour guided trip from Queenstown into the Routeburn Valley, including up to three hours of canyoning. It combines a scenic drive through Glenorchy, a guided Routeburn Track walk and waterfall descents. Departures are offered at 9:00 am on available dates from December to March, subject to demand. Transport, specialist equipment, guides and refreshments are included. Suitable for confident adventurers aged 15 and over with high fitness and water confidence.

Explore the Routeburn Valley and Experience Full-Day Canyoning

Your adventure begins in Queenstown, where you'll meet your canyoning guides before travelling towards Glenorchy. The route follows the shores of Lake Wakatipu, with views of the surrounding mountains, before continuing into the Routeburn Valley near Mount Aspiring National Park. This UNESCO World Heritage-listed landscape is known for its native rainforest, mountain streams and dramatic alpine terrain. After changing into your canyoning equipment and completing a safety briefing, follow a guided section of the famous Routeburn Track. The uphill walk takes approximately 25–30 minutes through native forest, leading towards a secluded canyon where waterfalls, rock walls and clear pools create a challenging natural adventure course.

Inside Routeburn Canyon, the experience becomes more demanding. With guidance from experienced canyoning professionals, you'll navigate a series of waterfalls, natural rock slides, pools and narrow passages. Activities may include abseiling down rock faces, jumping into water, ziplining and swimming or floating between canyon features. Some challenges are higher and more technical than those on the half-day Queenstown canyoning trip, making this experience particularly suited to active travellers seeking a greater physical challenge. Guides explain the techniques and provide alternative options where conditions permit. After completing the canyon, enjoy refreshments and return to the base for a hot shower before the scenic drive back to Queenstown.

Tour Highlights

  • Full-day Routeburn canyoning adventure
  • Up to three hours of canyoning activities
  • Guided section of the Routeburn Track
  • Abseils, jumps, zip lines and natural slides
  • Scenic drive through Glenorchy and Lake Wakatipu
  • Access to the Routeburn Valley canyon
  • Snacks and hot drinks included
  • Hot showers after the trip

Participation Requirements

This tour is suited to travellers with a high level of fitness and confidence in water. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult and have signed consent from a parent or guardian.

For safety reasons, guests cannot participate if they are pregnant, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, unable to fit the supplied equipment, over 120 kg, or have a medical condition that may be affected by the activity.

  • Return transport from Queenstown
  • Wetsuit and buoyancy aid
  • Boots, socks, helmet and technical gear
  • Safety briefing and guide instruction
  • Snacks, fruit and juice
  • Tea and coffee
  • Hot showers after the trip
  • Swimwear
  • Towel
  • Thermal base layer
  • Optional GoPro, which can be attached to compatible helmet mounts.
  • More than 24 hours before departure: Full refund**.
  • Within 24 hours: No refund

Note: **Any refund approved under our terms and conditions will be subject to a 5% admin & processing fee, which will be deducted from the refund amount.

Please see more information on refunds and cancellations in Go New Zealand's terms and conditions.

DISCLOSURE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RISK

THE NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURE ACTIVITY REGULATIONS REQUIRE OPERATORS TO TAKE AS FAR AS IS REASONABLY PRACTICABLE, STEPS TO INFORM PEOPLE OF ANY SERIOUS RISKS THEY MAY FACE TAKING PART OF AN ADVENTURE ACTIVITY.

TERMS & CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

  • You have read, understand and agree to the terms listed here:
  • Participation in canyoning activities involves a degree of risk and Adventure Group Limited (AGL) cannot absolutely guarantee participants safety.
  • You understand that this canyoning activity is operated in a dynamic environment where certain activities or events may result in injury.

Hazards exist, with associated risk & injury – such as but not limited to:

  1. Falls due to uneven terrain and/or wet & slippery surfaces.
  2. Jumping or sliding from height into shallow, deep or fast-moving water.
  3. Injuries associated with the use or unexpected failure of equipment, such as ropes, harnesses, ziplines or anchors.
  4. Moving through natural environments where unexpected tree or rock falls are possible.
  5. Unexpected sudden rise in river levels due to a weather event.
  6. Travelling on public roads carries a level of risk due to the potential of collisions or impacts. 

POTENTIAL INJURIES AS A RESULT OF ANY OF THE ABOVE COULD INCLUDE;

Grazes, cuts, bruises, fractures, dislocations, drowning

WHEN YOU BOOK AS A PARTICIPANT ON THIS ACTIVITY, YOU AGREE TO;

  • Follow the guide’s instructions and use the safety equipment.
  • Ensure that the Parents or Guardians accompanying any person under 18 years of age ensure that the underage person follows the guide’s instructions.
  • Disclose any known medical, physical, or psychological conditions that may affect your participation in the activity, and you believe to be suitable for this trip based on the information available.
  • Advise staff of any medication needed and / or carried by you, or anyone in your guardianship.
  • Acknowledge that under New Zealand law the accident compensation scheme provides only limited assistance to visitors to New Zealand who suffer personal injury. AGL strongly recommends that all visitors to New Zealand should have full insurance covering any personal injury they might suffer, including medical treatment cover.
  • To the extent permitted by law, you will release AGL, its staff & management, for any claim against loss or damage of personal possessions and / or injury, except where the provisions of the Accident Compensation Act (2001) apply.
  • AGL reserves the right to cancel or modify any trip, or to refuse to carry any person for safety or operational reasons.
  • That any photographs and video taken during your trip may be used by AGL for promotional purposes.


MINIMUM AGES:

  • Queenstown Half Day 12 Years
  • Routeburn Full Day 15 years
  1. ESTIMATE YOUR FITNESS LEVEL: LOW / MODERATE / HIGH
  2. RATE HOW CONFIDENT YOU ARE IN THE WATER: LOW / MODERATE / HIGH
  3. RATE YOUR COMFORT WITH, OR AROUND, HEIGHTS: LOW / MODERATE / HIGH
  4. RATE YOUR ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY: LOW / MODERATE / HIGH
  5. DO YOU HAVE ANY CONDITIONS (PAST OR PRESENT) THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR PARTICIPATION? YES/NO

If you believe you are low on any of 1 to 4 or have conditions that may affect your participation, please contact our team. Otherwise, our guides will discuss this with you prior to the trip departing.

Frequently asked questions

The minimum age is 15 years. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult and require signed parent or guardian consent.

Wetsuits, buoyancy aids, boots, socks, helmets and all technical canyoning equipment are provided.

The canyon may include abseiling, jumps, zip lines, natural slides, pools and narrow passages. The exact route depends on conditions and individual confidence.

The full trip lasts approximately eight hours, including transfers, the Routeburn Track walk, gearing up and up to three hours of canyoning activity.

Previous canyoning experience is not required, but this is a more demanding trip than the Queenstown half-day tour. Guests should have a high level of fitness and be confident in water.

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