"The Breathtaking Clay Cliffs of Omarama" Top 5 Page for this destination Canterbury Off The Beaten Path Tip by Kakapo2

Perhaps I have passed the sign ten times, perhaps fifteen or even twenty times. I have seen and photographed them from the State Highway, and thought, well, some day I will take the turn and have a closer look.

Had I known what would expect me I would have made the detour from State Highway 7, between Twizel and Omarama, ages ago.

Just the other day when I stayed in Omarama for nearly a week I made the trip and could not believe my eyes. The Clay Cliffs are nothing you would expect in inland NZ. The closer I got to them the more they reminded me of the South-West of the USA, all those national parks with those uniquely shaped arches, towers, and organ pipes, and most of Bryce Canyon, the rocks not so light-pink and the park not so huge and deep. And in fact those formations shaped by wind erosion, are no hard rocks.

The eroded towers and bare cones are made up of soft sand and gravel, you can see brick-red and grey layers of soil, separated by narrow gorges and canyons. And sure, the closer I came the more I got aware that those clay formations are much bigger and higher than they look from the highway on the other side of the wide Ahuriri River.

To make the day perfect I was there in December during the flowering season of the lupins, so the scenery and photos became even more surreal.

The landscape was created when the alpine fault right under this area had a massive movement. The Ostler Fault lifted the surface by 100 metres, and lay bare those clay cliffs. Erosion did the rest of the job. (At this fault line the Australasian and the Pacific Plate produce a lot of fraction. It continues further west to Franz Josef.)

You reach the Clay Cliffs by following the sign 25 km south of Twizel and 5 km north of Omarama on SH 8. You travel on gravel, and have to pass two gates, as the cliffs are on private land. A NZ$ 5 donation is expected. I recommend to walk when the road becomes 4 WD only, the track gets very rough on the last metres. From the end of the road you can walk into the heart of the cliffs.