A scenic stop on the Waterfall Way in northern NSW, Australia, Woolomombi Falls is one of the highest in Australia and lies in a magnificent gorge landscape.
The Waterfall Way in northern NSW stretches between Coffs Harbour on the coast and the elevated town of Armidale on the New England Tableland.
It passes close to a number of National Parks, some of them in very rugged inaccessible country indeed. They protect many rare and endangered plants and animals and contain numerous waterfalls.
Woolomombi Falls, at 260 m, is the second highest in Australia and the gorge country around this is spectacular.
Camping at Woolomombi
We had a taste of this when we arrived at Woolomombi Camping Ground, an easy 1.5. km off the Waterfall Highway, about 40 km east of Armidale.
Having set up our tent in one of the spacious sites, we took the grassy path leading off number 3 site to Edgar’s Lookout, an easy 200 m stroll.
We were at the edge of a massive gorge, the dizzying drop below us revealing a huge serpentine in the river’s route, the bottom seemingly unpenetrable with steep, rough sides.
Later, as we sat around our campfire in the coolness of the higher mountains, we were visited by a friendly Mountain Brushtail Possum. They only emerge at night, foraging for leaves, buds, flowers and fruit – and I suspect any leavings around the campsite. He was quite cute with his pink nose and big ears.
Later, I noticed the absolute silence of the night, there was nary a whisper of sound. It is sad that this is quite unusual these days and one is reminded of what a luxury silence actually is!
The next day we drove the short distance to the picnic area and set off on the Woolomombi Walk. This was an undulating 4 km return walk around the rim of the gorge, passing through eucalyptus forest.
Soon after starting out we passed through a dingo fence to protect domestic livestock. The path crossed a small creek which did not appear to be running although there were some waterholes and led to the Eagle’s Lookout where we got a bird’s eye view of the Gorge.
We descended to cross the Woolomombi River, upstream of the falls, on a metal bridge. There was a mass of tumbled boulders and dead vegetation caught in the bridge showing that the river can indeed run quite high.
However, it was now fairly slow moving with tendrils of green algae floating on the edges, although there were a couple of swimming holes to be found.
Metal stairs led us up again and we arrived at the Woolomombi Falls Lookout; from this angle we could only see the top of the falls where it started its fall into the gorge but it was impressive nevertheless.
500 m further on the track ended at the Chandler Falls Lookout, where the Chandler River fell off the escarpment into another very deep, narrow gorge. This parallels the Woolomombi Gorge until the gorges run into each other and the two rivers unite as the Chandler River.
It was so far down that one could not even see the bottom of the gorge but the surrounding scenery was breathtaking. It was strange to see the surrounding flat landscape abruptly drop off into this immense abyss.
We wandered back to the picnic area and set off in the other direction, on the Chandler Walk.
This is a 3 km return walk but requires a lot more effort.
It starts off easily enough with a bitumen wheelchair friendly stroll of 200 m to the Main Falls Lookout.
This has obviously been recently revamped and is enormous. If they put bar stools around the wooden topped railings it would actually make the perfect coffee bar, and indeed there is room to put the kiosk to the rear!
Whatever, it does give one the best view of the two falls in such a way that it is easy to appreciate the geology of the site. The Woolomombi Falls can be seen dropping in to the left while the Chandler Falls are directly ahead with just a narrow ridge separating the two gorges until they combine as one large entity.
The nearby Checks Lookout provides another glimpse down into the depths after which it is a steep zig zaggy walk down to the final Chandler Lookout, which is perched at the end of a finger ridge – don’t look down if you don’t like heights!
I’m not sure that the view actually justifies the exertion, being a lesser view of the Woolomombi Falls and the gorge but it is a pleasant enough walk if you want some exercise; it took us 40 minutes return from the sign suggesting ‘experienced hikers only’.
It was certainly time for lunch after that and the picnic area is well set up with shady tables, gas BBQs and a large shelter.
We had done everything there was to do in this little section of the park and seen some beautiful country – if you are passing through on the Waterfall Way, it certainly merits a detour and, if camping, it is a great overnight stop.
NOTES
9 campsites are available at Woolomombi which can be booked online with NSW Parks, or ring 1300 072 757. They are nicely spread out and spacious with their own fireplace (free firewood supplied). Long drop toilets and. water taps are also available.
There is no entrance fee for the park.
