Waterfall Valley
The Overland Track is a beautiful and very popular walk through the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in Tasmania. Compared with 40 years ago, when I first walked the Track, it now has the infrastructure such as huts and boardwalks designed to protect the environment from a constant flow of walkers.
Typically, the Track is done in six days, although many people do it quicker. However, off the popular Overland Track there are many special places that are seldom visited, and with a bit of planning, these side trips can provide some remarkable experiences of wilderness and solitude.
After the first day’s walking along the Overland Track, the night is spent at the Waterfall Valley Hut. A new hut built in 2020, it accommodates the maximum number of permitted hikers on any one day (34). The hut sits below the spectacular Barn Bluff, just above the Hartnett Rivulet that flows down through Waterfall Valley to the River Forth.
Waking up early, I was not surprised to see that, like the day before, the weather was overcast with low cloud and steady drizzle, with the occasional heavy shower. The second day of walking on the Overland Track is only 12 kilometres or so, including a side trip to Lake Will, so I had planned to spend the morning exploring Waterfall Valley.
After weeks of heavy rainfall in late 2022, creating widespread flooding and damage to human infrastructure across north-west Tasmania, I knew that Waterfall Valley would be a worthwhile side trip, alive with flowing water.
I made my way only a few hundred metres along the Overland Track to where rough but distinct tracks led off down through button grass plains. Working my way along the edge of the plain through persistent rain, I soon heard falling water. Climbing down the steep river valley through a tangled mess of pandani and moss-covered myrtle beech, I reached the hard flowing creek and, making my way back upstream, found Branigan Falls.
After taking some images of the Falls, I worked my way back up to the open button grass plain and continued down the open valley. The walking was fairly easy and I soon came out onto a rocky bluff where there was a good view of Lower Branigan Falls. Normally, these are a gentle cascade down a series of drops, but today, with the volume of water in the landscape, the falls were barely touching the side.
I continued down off the bluff to the confluence of two branches of the Hartnett Rivulet. Although there were good views down the valley with ephemeral waterfalls running down the valley sides, the cold, tanin-stained water flowing strongly through the thick vegetation on either bank meant there was no chance of crossing. Unfortunately, to get to the other side and make my way further downstream, I had to back track all the way back up to the Overland Track, cross the creek and come down the other side.
This made for a long walk, mostly through button grass although as I headed down the valley the button grass made way to thick waist high scrub. I edged my way around the gorge until it opened up making it safe to climb down without damaging the soft soil. Again, it was hard going through the thick bush as I descended into a vertical world of falling water. I was soaked, but the view of the twin falls was well worth it.
With water coming in from three directions, and water dripping from ancient myrtle and pandani, the rain, mist and spray combined to create a magical atmosphere. I spent a wonderful hour exploring the end of the gorge, trying to capture the dynamism of the water amid the seemingly timeless vegetation so well adapted to an ancient landscape.
All too soon, I needed to head back to the hut for lunch and on for the day’s walk through the persistent rain.
While the Overland Track is one of the world’s great walks, it is the side trips where the most special experiences are often to be found. Sometimes it is taking advantage of good weather and summiting a mountain peak or exploring a valley with its water courses and tarns. With camera in hand, there is always an excuse to slow down and listen to how the landscape speaks.
