Double Falls are roughly a 3-3.5 hours’ drive away from Auckland or 45min from Waitomo. Appletree Rd is a typical forestry road with gravel surface as well as huge holes and cracks on it. There is an official sign at the road entrance saying that it's not a public road, the road is maintained by DOC and DOC takes no liability for the vehicles entering to this road. This road is unsuitable for low wheel-base vehicles and we highly recommend a 4-WD vehicle for this trip.

From Waitomo travel west on Te Anga Rd for 17 km, then turn left into Appletree Rd (a forestry road) and follow it for the next 2.2km. On the intersection turn right and follow the road as long as you can (roughly 3.3km), until you see a small car park (on your right) with a sign 'Double Falls track 2 hours' (please refer to 'Parking' section on the top of the page to find the exact location of the parking - S 38°18.494' E 174°56.717' ). There are no any facilities along the road.

If you haven’t got an appropriate vehicle, you can leave your car near the intersection of Te Anga and Appletree roads, and walk the whole way to the carpark. Please note, one-way trip from Te Anga Rd to the parking takes roughly 1-1.5 hour, which adds 2-3 hours to your total tramping time.

A tramping, 4-hours return Double Falls track starts from the carpark and leads to the waterfall’s base. The first part of the track is a more or less easy track, which goes through the forest and has some uphill/downhill sections. Then the track leaves the forest and follows the forestry road. And finally, the track goes back into the forest. The last section of the track (15-30 minutes) is a steep descent to the gorge. Be very careful here! When you reach the Upper Falls (on the main photo), cross the stream and descend further to find the Lower Falls. Just follow the orange DOC triangles. The section between the Upper and the Lower Falls is the most difficult and always slippery. If you walk with kids, they must always be supervised! You can have lunch and relax at the bottom of the Lower Falls. We also highly recommend exploring the gorge and the stream here – very nice and beautiful spot.

The track itself isn't very difficult and doesn't require any river crossing, but because it’s not very popular it’s not well maintained – expect some falling trees on the track.

The waterfalls are very remote and quiet. We've been to that falls two times but never seen any people there.

There is an alternative way to reach the falls from Speedies Rd or Were Rd: follow Gorge track then Double Falls track. We never tried these tracks, but according to the DOC map, it should take roughly 7 hours return.