Ryde Falls is roughly a 1 hour 40 minutes' drive away from Christchurch centre. The road surface is un-sealed for the last 6.5km.

From Christchurch head north on the SH1. Slide left onto Tram Rd immediately after passing the bridge over Waimakariri River. Follow this road for 2km, then turn left onto S Eyre Rd and stay on it for the next 41km. Turn left onto Depot Rd, then turn right onto Welchs Rd. Follow it for the next 1.2km, then slide left onto Woodstock Rd and stay on it for 7.2km. Turn right onto Ingrams Rd which eventually becomes a gravel road. There are two creek fords along this road, first one is pretty simple, while the second one could be tricky (or even impassible after heavy rain), so 4WD is recommended for this crossing. After 2.5km of driving slide right onto Wharfedale Track which is a typical winding road which could be narrow and dangerous. There are 4 gates along the road which you need to open/close while you drive. There is a large parking area at the end of the road. No facilities are there other than information boards.

The fastest and the easiest way to reach the waterfall: from the parking follow a wide and well maintained (dual use: hiking/cycling) Wharfedale Track for roughly 30 minutes (roughly in 15 minutes from beginning of the walk there is a junction with Link Track, which says Ryde Falls also, do not turn right here unless you want to do a loop walk which will be longer, something like 3hrs in total). After 30 minutes of walking, on the tracks junction turn right onto Korimaki Track (Ryde Falls on the sigh) and keep walking for another 20-30 minutes. This track becomes narrow and muddy. Within 30 minutes you reach another junction which says 10 minutes to Ryde Falls.In a few minutes you'll need to cross a creek (un-bridged), hiking poles are recommended for this crossing. There is a campsite with fire places and a long drop toilet here.  

From the campsite keep the main track which follow the river (upstream), and within a couple of minutes you'll reach the falls. The Ryde Falls is a 5 tiers waterfall with the only 3 lower ones seen from the track. There are big pools at the bases of each leap. The lower pool is a quite popular swimming spot. But there are lots of sandflies there, hence don't forget an insect repellent.

Return via the same route, total walking time is about 2hr if you walk fast, or 2hr 30min if you walk with kids.

Note: the walk to the Ryde Falls could be extended up to the whole day walk. The easiest option is to walk from the same car park, but do it as a loop track (turn right onto Link Track as described above). The falls can be also reached from Mt Oxford Car Park, the return walk would take 4-5 hours.