This partial circuit in Budderoo National Park takes you to the top of the impressive Gerringong Falls, with views of the falls just a side trip off the main track. The falls are apparently 150-180m high. There’s heath vegetation and a section of tall forest along the way. I’d say you’re unlikely to meet many (or possibly any) other walkers; we didn’t at least.
About 16.5km of mostly flat walking, although one section of the track was badly overgrown and slow going. Track notes at the end.
Gerringong Falls Circuit: The Scenery
I’m afraid some of my photos from this walk are pretty bad, generally glary and washed out looking, but you can still get the idea. I’ve noticed quite a few people come to my blog to read about this walk, so welcome. If you do this walk and take better photos than me then perhaps send me a few 🙂
Track Notes
We used track notes in Take a Walk in Southern NSW & the ACT. This route follows a ‘P’ shape, starting at the bottom of the ‘P’ on the Budderoo Track/Budderoo Plateau Road, a turn off Jamberoo Mountain Road. Park at the locked gate, and walk along this fire trail until you reach a disused car park, turning right here onto Gerringong Falls Walking Track. The track becomes quite overgrown and indistinct, so you have to accept a face full of twigs and slow progress for a while. Once you reach Gerringong Creek you can roughly follow the creek downstream to the falls along an impact track on the opposite bank.
There are views from the falls, and then after you cross back over the creek you meet the Hersey (Fire) Trail, and can take a side trip to the right for views back towards the falls. Return to the fire trail and continue until you meet the Budderoo Track again, then turn left to return to the start. You could do the whole walk on fire trails if you continue along the Budderoo Track and take a right onto the Hersey Trail, continue on to the falls, and then return the same way.
This Google Maps link to the falls shows all of these tracks. And AllTrails has the Budderoo/Hersey fire trails portion of the walk, with the overgrown trail to make the loop also marked on the map (but not described in the notes).
Nearby Walks
If you’re interested in walks in the NSW Southern Highlands then have a browse through others that I’ve done in the area. There are a few lesser known gems to be done.
After 13 years of bushwalking around Sydney we are still doing new walks that exceed expectations. The Southern Highlands circuit visiting Mermaids Pool and passing through Tahmoor Canyon was one such walk. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it was fairly popular so it’s evidently not a secret. Mermaids Pool is probably the most scenic pool I’ve seen in NSW, and Tahmoor Canyon was deep and very atmospheric in places. Definitely recommended. (more…)
The Starlights Trail is in a less frequented area of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The walk starts on fire trails, but eventually drops down into the cliff lined Nattai Valley, ending at the picturesque Nattai River. The area was a lot dryer than I remembered it, possibly a result of the recent drought. It’s a good walk if you want to get away from the crowds, as I don’t remember ever seeing anybody on this trail. Perhaps this is why we saw a goanna along the way, who stopped on a tree in a convenient spot for me to get a good picture. (more…)
The West Rim Track is a mostly flat 4km return walk passing multiple lookouts with views down a side arm of the Kangaroo Valley, and of a few waterfalls, particularly Fitzroy Falls situated at the start of the walk. (more…)
When I posted this walk in my personal Facebook account I didn’t mention the track name, so I’m not entirely sure where it was. Nevertheless, I’ve found pictures online of the same view as we saw, and that was labelled as Wombat Hill Lookout, so I think this is the same walk. It’s near the picturesque town of Berrima in the Southern Highlands, because we stopped there on the way back to Sydney. The walk was a bit monotonous as it followed a fire trail for most of the way, but the views were nice at the turnaround point. (more…)
