Box Canyon and Crazy Paving Caves

The Box Canyon and Crazy Paving Caves are close to the road and fun to explore. Bring torches. 

Drive north out of Karamea toward Kōhaihai and turn onto McCallums Mill Road. This long and winding shingle road climbs through forest before dropping into the Ōpārara Basin with its amenity area. Continue on down the road to the locked gate and controlled access to Honeycomb Hill Caves. The track is marked here.

A short walk through forest leads to a limestone bluff housing the two caves. Crazy Paving Cave is lower down and low to enter. Parts of the floor are covered in mud that has dried out into irregular polygonal patterns.

Box Canyon Cave is up a few steps to the mouth, followed by a staircase down into the cave. It is very spacious, and much like a roofed in box canyon. You can walk a long way back into the hillside. Occasional intriguing winding passages lead off into the sides of the cave. 

Aside from cave wētā and maybe the odd glowworm, these caves are home to the Nelson cave spider (Spelungula cavernicola), New Zealand's largest spider! Be gentle with it, as it is protected, and known only from a few locations.