Needs a fair bit of rain to make this paddleable, but this is Fiordland so you shouldn’t need to wait long… Options of a stay in a Rock Bivvy, or the North Borland Hut could turn this into an overnighter. Thanks to Jesse Friedlander for the information.
Borland Tracks to the North-Middle Borland Burn confluence
From the carpark on the Borland Road, take the Borland track down to the river and take note of the take out. Jesse Friedlander reports: “It’s an easy 2-3hr walk up the river to where I put in at the first river crossing on the way to North Borland hut. The track follows the river most of the way so you can do a bit of scouting before you hit the water.”.
Take a look at the North Borland Track information page on the DOC website to learn more about the access track and accommodation options.
Borland Burn (II) from North-Middle Borland Burn confluence to carpark
Plenty of class II paddling back to the take out.
Gauge
Visual.
Jesse Friedlander reports: “I wouldn’t recommend trying this run unless there has been some serious rain. When I paddled it, the river looked to be running almost a foot high which was perfect. Any less water and it would probably get too scratchy in lots of places”.
Just as an update to this trip–you can keep paddling all the way to the Waiau river and take out at the powerstation for a longer run. easy gravel road back to Borland Lodge is perfect for dropping a bike on the way in and doing it as a bike shuttle. the river from borland lodge down to the Waiau has some fun corners up to class II with one rapid near the end (just past a swing bridge) having a couple holes that might be class II+. If the river is run from rock biv right down its somewhere around 12-14 km of fun for a packraft, assuming there is enough water.