Maitai Cave
Maitai Water Reserve
Maitai Cave is a small limestone cave in the upper Maitai Valley, southeast of central Nelson. Reached by a side track from Coppermine Trail, the walk follows Sclanders Creek through mixed beech and podocarp forest. The cave itself is modest in size, but it provides an accessible introduction to caving, making it a popular destination for walkers looking to add a little exploration to a forest walk.
| Details | |
| Length | 10.4 km return from Maitai Dam; 3.3 km return from Coppermine Trail turnoff |
| Time Required | 3 hr return |
| Trail Type | Walking track |
| Physical Difficulty | Moderate |
| Uses | Walking |
| Start Elevation | 120 m |
| Max Elevation | 340 m (cave entrance) |
20 min from Nelson
The walk to Maitai Cave begins at Maitai Dam, 11 km up Maitai Valley from central Nelson. You can use the first car park just after the Maungatapu Track turnoff, or the second car park a few hundred metres further on, on the other side of the dam spillway. Maitai Cave Track forks off Coppermine Trail, which can be accessed in one of two ways: either by crossing the pedestrian bridge between the two car parks, or by crossing the stile at the spillway car park and following the forestry road along the true right of Maitai River South Branch to the vehicle bridge, which crosses the river to connect with Coppermine Trail.
Maitai Cave Track is within Maitai Water Reserve, which is managed by Nelson City Council.
Cross the pedestrian bridge and follow Coppermine Trail. The first 2 km passes through kānuka on the true left of Maitai River South Branch, then enters original native forest. The turnoff to the cave is 3.6 km from the car park, just before the bridge across Maitai River South Branch.
After leaving Coppermine Trail, Maitai Cave Track crosses Sclanders Creek (not bridged), which is named after David Sclanders, an early Nelson settler involved in the mining of Dun Mountain. The track, rougher and less developed than Coppermine Trail, follows a natural embankment between Sclanders Creek and Maitai River South Branch, skirting the western fringe of the mineral belt before entering stunning beech-podocarp forest that features rimu, kahikatea and mataī, with Sclanders Creek flowing on the right. This area is known as Cawthron Park, a 1,000 ha piece of bush gifted to the city by Thomas Cawthron in 1913. This was one of many philanthropic contributions made by Cawthron, who also founded the Cawthron Institute. The gradient steepens a little in the final few hundred metres to the cave.
The cave entrance is a narrow opening on the hillside, guarded by limestone outcrops. If you want to explore the cave, make sure you have a head torch and some clothes that you don’t mind getting muddy. The cave is approximately 60 m long, although the terminal section is generally inaccessible, requiring cavers to submerge through a pool. Remember that the inside of the cave is a delicate environment that has taken thousands of years to form. Do not remove anything from the cave and be sure not to leave any waste behind.
Return the way you came.
For geological context, the cave is part of the Wooded Peak Limestone Formation, a belt of limestone that runs northeast to southwest along the Bryant Range, broadly parallel to the mineral belt. This limestone is encountered on several other local tracks, including Mt Malita, Saddle Hill, Wooded Peak and Mt Duppa. Walkers may notice that the terrain often becomes noticeably steeper where the track crosses the limestone belt. Several other small caves also occur within the formation, including those at Wairoa Gorge and United Creek.
Do not attempt to enter the cave without a torch. The entrance is steep and slippery, so take care.
Sources and further reading
1. The Prow. Thomas Cawthron – Nelson merchant and philanthropist.
2. Waterhouse, J. B. (1959). Stratigraphy of the lower part of the Maitai Group, Nelson. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 2(5), 944–953.