JOY FALLS

[biggc]

Has anyone been to joy falls???? My partner, kids and i set out today to try and find them. Following the road to Mathinna i turned onto joy road, this area has been divided into lots by the forestry, we drove along the road for a while until we came to a bridge with water racing down a hill and under the bridge it was quite nice, it also sounded like there was a large drop of water on the other side of the road through the bush and i was wondering if i was close to the so called joy falls?? were they just down the hill through the bush a little ways?? I had to abandon my search as the weather was terrible i did notice when we drove up the road about 50 metres to turn a sign read joy 7..

[Taurë-rana]

I have a feeling we tried to find these and walked up the creek with no success, but we didn't persevere for too long as we had people waiting for us. I remember we went across a bit of rock which sloped into a pool which I warned my then 8yo? son not to slip on, so of course he slipped in and panicked for a bit until I reminded him he could swim. I was really hoping not to have to jump in and rescue him!

[walkinTas]

I haven't been there, but they are marked on the map.

Turn into Joy Road from Gunns Road, 2.7 km on Gunns Road to track, 1 km on track to falls. But I have no idea how accurate the map is. Both the map and Google earth show the track crossing an old Forestry Coupe, so the track may have changed/disappeared during harvesting. Either way, the falls will be where Joy Creek falls into a steepish valley.

I also just noticed an unnamed falls just down the road in Tier Creek if you are the adventurous type.

TierFalls.jpg (379.59 KiB) Viewed 20002 times

[biggc]

attempting these falls again on saturday then onwards to climb the top two falls at mathinna and if i have any time left storys falls just outside of rossarden

[biggc]

failed attempt due to bad weather trying again this week

[biggc]

drove 2.7 ks along road parked the car and proceeded to walk about 5 ks down the road no sign of a walking track to be found attempted to walk down two of the creeks that flow down the hill but the vegetation is too thick so this fall can go and get ......

[tastrekker]

I had a ripper trip to Joy Falls and the unnamed falls on Tier Creek this arvo. Easiest access was exactly as per the map extracts posted by Walkintas. In fact, rather than print a 1:25,000 map, I just copied screen shots to my phone and followed that.

The spur road to Joy Falls (Joy 3) is too overgrown for a car but made for easy walking. At the end of the spur I just kept going in the same general direction for a few minutes. The ground soon sloped steeply downward and I reached some cliffs which gave an excellent view of the falls a short distance up the valley.

Being a rather mad waterfall bagger, I contoured around to the top of the falls where some interesting scrambling was needed to see the whole fall plunging away below me. Very impressive but dangerous too. The cliffs are extremely crumbly. I returned to the car by walking up the other side of the valley and using old logging roads via Kangaroo Plain.

The curvy track leading to the unnamed falls on Tier Creek was drivable as it has recently been logged. I left the car at the point closest to the falls and walked a few metres to the edge of the coupe where the terrain dropped away very steeply. These falls were just as spectacular as Joy Falls but harder to view. I had to do some nasty scrambing to reach a point halfway down the falls on the far side where both main drops could be viewed from one place.

The two waterfalls were interesting geomorphologically. They both feature a distinctive alternate route over the cliffs which is likely to have been the original waterfall before the current cleft opened up to let the water escape at a lower level. I expect the crumbly nature of the rock in that area means these falls probably change path quite rapidly.

I'm suddenly inspired by NE Tas waterfalls. I've been to Lilydale, Ralphs & Mathinna Falls but there's a host of others to visit such as Meetus, Lost, Hardings, Kohls, etc etc. Hopefully there will be some more rain in the NE before the summer dries things up. Fun fun fun.

[walkinTas]

That's great news tt. I am planning a trip later this week (before the school holiday's end) in search of meadstone falls. Might have to do a spot of car camping and spend two days up that way. If you are going in search of Kohl's, please consider inviting me.

Now, where are the photos. Neither of these falls have appeared on the forum and so I need photos to link to the wiki list.

[Grindelwalddave]

The map says Ben Lomond Conservation Area yet it has been logged! How can this be?

[tastrekker]

The map says Ben Lomond Conservation Area yet it has been logged! How can this be?

It was revoked in 1999 as part of the RFA process. Similar to what happened to the Picton Valley section of the Hartz Mountains NP a decade or so earlier I guess. There was an extremely steep cable logging site just a few hundred metres downstream from Joy Falls. I'll add a view down the valley to the pics I'm about to link to this topic.

[tastrekker]

Here's a link to my photos on Facebook...

[MrWalker]

We went looking for Joy Falls and found the spur Joy 3, just where Tastrekker said it was, with the sign broken and lying on the ground. We went along the overgrown spur until we reached the end, but then ran into trouble.
We could not see any way through the bush straight ahead, but found a taped route slightly to the left. This meandered through the forest until we eventually arrived at Joy Creek and a small cascade. We could not find any falls in either direction and there was no clear way downstream to where it probably was. On the way back we found a taped diversion to a bit of a lookout, but still no sign of a waterfall.

The best route may be straight ahead at the end of the spur as Tastrekker said, but the area is rather overgrown, so it may need more bushbashing skills than we have. I don't recommend following the taped route.

[tastrekker]

Sorry MrWalker. I do remember the scrub at the end of the spur was thick. Cutting grass and close-knit tea tree I think. Breast stroke works well. Insert both hands, palms outward, into the arboreal abomination in front of you and push outwards. Move body forward into the space created and repeat the process.

My original description understated the tricky terrain. Much steep and crumbly rock so a lot of care needed. The photo below was taken about 10 minutes after plunging into the scrub at the end of the spur road.

Joy Falls

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[north-north-west]

View like that is worth a mere ten minutes of scrub. Even if that does include cutting grass.

[MrWalker]

View like that is worth a mere ten minutes of scrub. Even if that does include cutting grass.

If we can encourage a lot more people to go there, we might be able to beat a track through the bush.
But remember the scrub has been growing for 6 years since Tastrekker went there.

[tastrekker]

...But remember the scrub has been growing for 6 years since Tastrekker went there.

Thanks MrWalker. I took your comment as a great excuse to go back there a couple of weeks ago.

The scrub immediately after the end of Joy 3 is not as bad as I thought. From the road end to the waterfall view is fairly open and mossy under a stunted canopy of rainforest species including a few myrtles. Very soon after leaving the end of the road the slope becomes very steep but still easy going with care. After less than 10 minutes I came to a twisty myrtle overhanging a protruding rock which gave a safe but slightly obscured view of the falls (first picture below). Just down to the right I was able to clamber down some precariously loose, flaky rock to get a clear view (second pic).

Joy Falls myrtle view

Joy Falls clear view

After taking these photos I headed up and found a taped route heading further left (as per MrWalker's description). I followed these downhill for a while and came to a spot where the falls were almost completely obscured by the trees below (3rd pic). I don't know if the tapes continue from that point. Further downhill from there becomes impossibly cliffy. Contouring left would lead into dense, dry, scratchy scrub. I suspect MrWalker is correct and the tapes perhaps do contour further until reaching Joy Creek above the falls. I didn't investigate further in that direction this time.

Joy Falls tape view

[MrWalker]

Just down to the right I was able to clamber down some precariously loose, flaky rock to get a clear view (second pic).

Thanks for checking that TasTrekker. Since my wife and I are not as agile as we used to be, I think we might skip the precarious, flaky route, despite the promise of a quick 10 min off-track section.

[Caedo12]

Thanks heaps for the info Tastrekker, it's a falls quite high on my bucket list, although I might have to settle for the obstructed view as I'm not sure I'll be brave enough to scramble to the edge of a cliff on flaky ground!

[Paul]

Did you ever get to Kohls Falls ?
Paul.