Red Cedar Falls

The Waterfall Way has become embedded on people’s travel list. Tick Wollomombi, tick Ebor, tick Dangar, and you drive right over Sherrard and Newell. Piece of cake. Still, I can’t help but wonder if the average traveller realises just how many other falls there are on this appropriately named tourist route.

There are streams and creeks aplenty for the slightly adventurous wanderer, and even more for the dedicated hiker. From tiny drops to hidden wonders, they play their music across the lands either side of the road. Sometimes they’re only a couple of hundred metres away, others you can camp nearby and listen to the gurgling of fluid rushing between weathered boulders on a night where stars mesmerize and the dew hangs on the grass like tears as the chill takes over and a warm bed beckons.

I’ve travelled the route for decades, long before it even had its new nomenclature, long before people ever realised how stunning Wollomombi really is, and well before Ebor had tar laid down to the viewing areas. Driving past I would, from time to time, take a moment or two out to go and see the main falls. I’ve seen them in drought, I’ve seen them in flood, but I’ve never seen them iced up, as Ebor has been on rare occasions, once famously featured in the Armidale local paper. It’s fair to suggest that this is not the type of weather that normally attracts your average tourist. I have, however, been to the bottom of Ebor’s second drop a couple of times, an activity not recommended for the unfit. It’s a very steep descent without a marked trail, but the photographic rewards are there to be had should you succeed. Beyond the far carpark there’s also another fall, but I haven’t managed the challenge of getting to the bottom of that yet.

For a more relaxed view of flowing waters you could try Coutts Water, an effervescent series of minor cascades right beside the road  between Dorrigo and Ebor. Here you can even spend the night, though no facilities are available.

Rosewood Creek

Tiny bridges span many of the flows, though there’s one I’ve labelled Secret Falls because I can’t find any name or reference to it on any map and it doesn’t appear to have any part on the southern side of the road. It’s only 20 metres off the B78, yet almost invisible to passers-by. I only discovered it by chance when late sunlight directed my eyes to the north side and I noticed a small rivulet disappearing into a void. Next time I pulled up and there was a lovely little fall.

Another drive by is Deer Park River. This was the first one I ever photographed, other than the main ones. That was more than three decades ago, but Deer Park inspired me to stop for others. It took time before I had hours to spare and was driving on that particular road with my new partner Lorraine. It was nearby to where she had been raised and the aforementioned place called Coutts Water came  up. Needless to say, we pulled over one day and drove a short way up the dirt road. It was a picturesque spot and the flowing waters made a gurgle that soothed the soul, all aided by a classic country sky with clumps of stratus contrasted against the mid blue beyond on a balmy autumn afternoon. Gum trees stretched for a drink where they hadn’t been culled and those that had fallen had shot anew, encouraged by the lifeblood of the stream.

It’s symptomatic of so many as you head towards Armidale or Guyra. Grazing land, mostly for sheep, where a creek divides the paddocks, and the rolling hills provide a delightful backdrop.

The Orange River and Little Creek Falls are two others I can call to mind. Cascades tucked away, just out of sight of the casual motorist, which are a joy if you pull over and take the time out.

There are also ones that plunge through woodlands and disappear from view. Little Murray, Rigney,  and Yarrum Creek are three that I know of, though I have to confess that Yarrum is on a side loop road and has a small dam one side of the road and dense foliage the other, and that’s where it drops over an impressive cliff or two.

Speaking of side roads, there are numerous excursions you might take and, of those, far and away the most popular is the Dorrigo Rainforest Centre. They get six figure amounts of tourists per annum to stop (having unknowingly passed Rocky Creek Falls en route), view the gift shop and café, and then take a walk. Many may only do the very short strolls but  increasingly large numbers take the time to do the relatively easy two hour picturesque wander past Crystal Shower and Tristania Falls. It’s a splendid introductory walk, made even easier because the entire route is paved; well, except for the two bridges, one of which has an interesting history.

Endiandra Creek

The Crystal Shower Bridge never existed until a major flood event wiped out the trail that used to go beneath the falls. After consultation it was decided to reroute the track. The bridge was built off site and moved into place by helicopter. Because much of the forest right there was wiped out, you can get  a rainbow effect at certain times of the day from the waterfall’s spray, because the sun’s rays now go where they’ve never gone before. Oh, and you can still walk behind the falls.

However, the more adventurous might find it worth going the extra yard, so to speak, and instead of driving into the Rainforest Centre, turn left and follow the road for a few kilometres to its end at Never Never Picnic Area. Here you’ll find a plethora of waterfalls and streams. Callicoma, Casuarina, Cedar, and Coachwood Falls, fed by streams with exotic names like Endiandra, Sassafras and Rosewood all await the intrepid traveller. There are also numerous cataracts without names as you do the walks in this area.

Bakers Creek Falls in flood

If it’s easy you’re seeking, then the much visited Dangar Falls on the outskirts of Dorrigo has been upgraded. A lovely park and path with labyrinth sculpture and presto, you can go for a swim beneath the lookout as well as have a picnic afterwards, and all this beside a caravan park with delightful panoramas over the countryside. This area is not to be confused with Dangars Falls outside of Armidale, that is a much higher drop but with less regularity of water, but also has Mihi Falls nearby as well. Spectacular in flood though, as most falls are, none more so than Wollomombi that thunders belligerently before spewing skywards again in one of Australia’s deepest gorges, though that’s actually named after the other nearby falls called Chandler. You can walk to them also, except when it’s flooding and the access bridge is under water.

Just up the road a little is Bakers Creek Falls which is also worthy of time if water is flowing.

There are other streams, such as Ponds and Meldrum Creeks that merely flow benignly under Waterfall Way as they head off to blend into other, more significant, bodies of water. The whole point being that perhaps you should allow a whole lot more time to reap the manifestly rich rewards that await you from that charming café-rich village of Bellingen to the architecturally special Armidale.

Endiandra Creek

BEYOND WATERFALL WAY

There are many options if you don’t want to stick rigidly to Waterfall Way. The Armidale Road to Grafton has rivers and scenery as well, though it’s windy and a bit bumpy on occasions. Similarly with the road to Guyra, it’s also scenic, but not as well maintained as the main route. Some of the loop roads just west of Dorrigo are worth considering; though they’re a bit narrower, the views are splendid and there’s less traffic. If you want to see even more, turn into New England National Park. There you will cross the Little Styx River on your way to do the Cascade Track or the rarely visited Tea Tree Falls Trail. You can also feed the trout and/ or buy some smoked variety at the trout farm.

Rocky Creek Falls

Category: Destinations
Written: Mon 01 Jan 2018
Printed: January, 2018
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