Pointed spires
Clay and gravel.
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The Clay Cliffs, also called the Ahuriri River Clay Cliffs or the Clay Cliffs Paritea, are a group of cliffs in southern New Zealand near the north bank of the Ahuriri River, about 8 km west of the township of Omarama in a straight line. The cliffs are made of layers of silt and gravel laid down during glacial erosion around two million years ago, part of the Hawkdun Group of sediments. The nearby Ostler Fault lifted them, and rain and wind then carved their present shapes. The cliffs are privately owned but open to visitors for a parking fee. Grey and golden spires and pinnacles of clay and gravel rise between narrow, deep gullies, like a city of pointed towers. In summer purple and pink lupins bloom along the road in, with the mountains of the Waitaki district behind. Visitors drive a side road to a car park near the cliffs, then walk a short way into narrow passages between the spires that open into a natural amphitheatre ringed by walls. The light is best early in the morning and in the evening, and the clay is fragile, so do not climb the walls.
Clay and gravel.
Ringed by walls.
In summer.
Near the Ahuriri River, west of Omarama, New Zealand
A parking fee is charged.
No, the clay is fragile.