Cape Foulwind Lighthouse — Attraction in West Coast

Cape Foulwind was named by Captain Cook in 1770 when he encountered particularly nasty weather. Due to its persistent gale wind and rain.

It was also here in 1642, when Abel Tasman sighted ‘a large land, uplifted high’. In the distance what appeared to be a faint, dark line etched against the horizon.

Cape Foulwind lighthouse is accessible to the public and can easily be visited as part of the Cape Foulwind walk.

Department of Conservation regards it as "one of our best short walks." Suitable for families with children.

The lighthouse is a 15 minute walk from the northern end of the car park.

3.4 km one way

1 hr 15 min one way

There are many things to to see along the walk and is a beautiful costal walk. At the end of the walk is a seal platform.

The seal breeding season from November to February is the busiest time of year for New Zealand fur seal/kekeno.

The West Coast is blessed with beautiful natural landscapes. The West Coaster's are almost blasé, apathetic to the pleasure or excitement as a result of excessive natural beauty.

From the main carpark at the northern end, is a short walk down to the beach where a beautiful...

We visited Cape Foulwind Lighthouse, I was sad that you can’t actually get near the lighthouse, unless you use the bushtrack worn by all those before us that also wanted the same thing. It is sad that the replacement lighthouse isn’t as cool as the original one was, the previous structure was a thing of beauty and the new one is pretty boring in comparison!! I did like that there was signs around where you could read about the history of the lighthouse and what happened to it. The track behind the lighthouse leads to the seal colony, but we had already seen that, so...

This rating is for the walk that starts in the car park, goes past the lighthouse, and ends at the seal colony. The trail is well maintained with a lot of smaller up and down walking. The views are stunning. You get a chance to get a look at different types of flax plants and the Kea bird will keep you company (and try to steal your food) if you stop for a snack break. Unless you arrange for pickup at the other end it is a 1 1/2 to 2 hour return walk - assuming you stop and...