I had never been to Engadine Falls before even though it is very easy to reach, being close to a fire road between Engadine and Loftus. I thought after recent rain, that it may be worth a visit. My plan was to catch a train to Engadine, then walk along the track from the station to one of the fire roads and then follow that to Engadine Falls. Then after that, if the going looked OK, to follow the creek downstream to Horseshoe Falls. There were several options to return to either Engadine, Heathcote or Loftus.
Horseshoe Falls
It was pleasant going from Engadine Station along the track and fire roads. There was a lt to look out for, particularly orchids.
Hyacinth Orchid – Dipodium variegatum
Large Tongue Orchid – Cryptostylis subulata
Fringe Lillies –
Keeping a watch of the map, I spotted a rough track heading off in the direction of Engadine Falls. It ws only a few minutes walk to the top of the falls, and then I kept on the track to the bottom. The flow was not that impressive.
The creek below the falls looked OK for walking. It was slippery in places, but generally fairly open – a mixture of rainforest, open rock slabs, and ferny banks.
The worst thing was all the rubbish along the way. Lots of bottles – plastic and glass, lots of old tarps, old clothes caught up in trees.
It was about 50 minutes walk down to the large open rock slabs on top of Horseshoe Falls.
It was hard to get a good view of the falls from the top. However to was easy to scramble down to the bottom via pass a short way around on the true right.
Below the falls is a large pool.
I had thought of continuing on to Kangaroo Creek and then walking out via the walking track. But the ridge to the south looked easy and open, and from the top it would not be far to a fire road.
So I climbed back up to the top of the falls, and then had lunch and a swim. The ridge out was open and easy…… at first. About half way up, it turned into thick heath and was quite slow going. But I made steady progress towards the fire road. However, once on top, I found the fire road did not exist or if it did, it was very overgrown. I had no choice but to keep going, trying to find the easiest way through some thickets. At oe spot, I found what looked like a very old quarry and some rubbish (beer bottles). It was not far from this to a real fire road. But there was one last obstacle – a wire fence and a sign saying trail closed, penalty…. I found a way around the fence.
From there it was an easy walk back to either Heathcote or Engadine Stations. Engadine seemed to have more bush and less fire roads so that was the way I went.
