The CJ way Guide to Wilson Creek Canyon

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 AT A GLANCE 

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A beautiful hidden slot canyon/chasm

Located in Mount Aspiring National Park

5-10 minutes

Medium

Free

Best time to visit: late morning or early afternoon

Water shoes are best

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 WHERE IS THIS EXACTLY? 

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• Coordinates of chasm: -44.085812, 169.368939

• Coordinates parking: -44.085541, 169.370319

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• Park in the pull off, then walk to Wilson’s creek. Enter from the south side by scrambling down some rocks and following the stream into the chasm. You’ll need to cross the creek a few times, but you can follow/use the sandbars so you never have to get wet above your knees.  (We walked along the lefthand side and then through the water, using the sand bars where safe to do so). You could continue exploring the canyon further up, but we believe this would likely require canyoning/abseiling experience so we stopped here. 

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 best time to visit? 

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• ​We think it’s best to visit this beautiful spot during the middle of the day (late morning or early afternoon) as you can get some nice light hitting the top waterfall. The base of the canyon never really see’s the sun so any time is essentially good to visit  (for photography).

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 cj travel tips 

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• The water is honestly so cold  - start mentally preparing before you enter! The second time we visited here was on a super sunny day and standing on the road afterwards waiting for our feet to regain feeling was very satisfying.

• There are so many other hidden gems around this stretch of road and we found ourselves pulling over and exploring all the little creeks for hidden canyons and chasms. Take some time and explore! 

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 cj photography tips 

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• Depending on the light hitting the top of the waterfall, you may need to take some darker exposures to bring some highlight detail back in post processing.

• Keep an eye out for the level of mist as we found it changed quite a lot while we were there and this enabled us to move around and get a much better composition in some shots.

• Polarising filter is a must here!

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 what we found useful to pack 

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​In addition to the usuals (camera gear, suitable clothing, water and food, first aid, etc. we found the following items useful for Wilson Creek Canyon:

• Insect repellent

• Water shoes

• Camera lens cleaning cloth (for the mist)

• Jacket