Oparara Basin
Introduction
The Oparara Basin in one of the finest features of the Kahurangi National Park. For a million years the Oparara River system has been at work sculpting the 35 million-year-old limestone basin into an intriguing complex of caves, arches and channels.
Features
Honeycomb Hill Cave, Oparara
The forest is a mixture of beech and podocarp, thickly carpeted with mosses and ferns growing in shallow moist soil and squeezing root systems through cracks to gain a hold. Unique ferns and algae live around the arches and cave entrances. Birds, insects and fish flourish in the environment, home to the rare short tailed bat, the giant land snail, the cave spider and blue duck.
All insects, fossils, native birds and plant species are protected. Underground cave formations can take thousands of years to grow just one centimetre. They are fragile creations - even the oil on your hands can damage formations.
Location
The basin is about 20 km north of Karamea.
Getting there
An old forestry road provides access to the Oparara Basin. The road branches inland approximately nine kilometres north of Karamea on the road to Kohaihai. It is a further 12 km to the arches car park and another three kilometres to the caves car park.
Activities
Caving