The falls makes for a nice half-day trip from Christchurch, especially considering it might be the nearest significant waterfall to the city itself. The hike took us about 100 minutes return (starting from the View Hill Car Park) including some exploring at the falls itself in search of better views. However, signs indicate that at least 2 hours should be allocated for the excursion.

We started by hiking along the Wharfedale Track, which was also shared with mountain bikers (something we noticed on the return). This part of the walk persisted for about the first 30 minutes before we reached a fence for the Oxford Forest. Just at the fence, there was a spur track called Cooper Creek Link Track to our right, but we ignored it.

Continuing on the Wharfedale Track, we eventually made it to another linking track (signposted for Ryde Falls), which was much narrower than the track we had been hiking on up to this point. Eventually, this track joined with another main track, which proceeded to descend down to creek level where we had to cross it (nontrivial).

Beyond the stream crossing, it only took a few minutes more before we finally arrived at the waterfall. And it was here that we weren't totally happy with the view, but we seriously had to consider whether it was worth the potential for injury to push onwards for that better view. And as you can see from the photos on this page, our choice was clearly made to err on the side of caution.

Directions: From Christchurch, head north on Hwy 1 for about 25km. Then, take the Woodend Rd, which becomes Oxford Rd, and eventually Depot Rd for about 53km. At that point, turn right onto Harmans Gorge Rd and take it for just under 6km. Eventually, there will be signposts for View Hill Car Park on the left.