Bushwalk Australia

Hi,

Bushwalk.com newbie!
I've had a look on the site for some information regarding Moroka Falls.
I've found information, to puzzle most of it together regarding where they are, where to camp etc.
Just wanting more information on degree of "toughness" and time.

I hear you can do it in a day on one website, and then I look at the distance and wonder if that's the best option.
I mean, I don't want to race there, see the falls and go back.
I want to enjoy myself, take photo's and have a good time not a short time.

So, my plan is as follows.

Day one, hike in, see first falls, hike to the falls at Lumican gully and camp there somewhere or at another spot we might find on the way...

Day two, visit the other 5 falls (depending on river crossing might skip kent creek) and walk back to a campsite anywhere we decide as long as it's half way or more back to horse yard flat.

Day three, walk out hopefully safe and sound with an unforgettable experience.


I've heard it can be done in 1 or 2 days but I'm not sure what the tracks are like as it's been a number of years since the photo's I've seen were taken. So I presume it might be a bit more dense and tough walking.

I've done off track walking before and really enjoy it, but I've always had a good idea where I was going.
With this one, I'm really putting myself out there.

Any help appreciated,

thanks in advance!

Joshua Atherton

Welcome to the forum Josh.

Access to the first waterfall is easy. About 3kms from Horseyard Flat on track. From there you need to walk downstream to the gorge. From memory most of it is off track and progress in some areas can be slow. Lots of river crossings as well. If the water level is down it can be quicker to walk in the river in some parts. Kent Creek Falls is located on a trib between the 2nd and 3rd falls. The falls are located about 100m upstream and reasonably easy to get to. There is a good place to camp where the Lummican Gully trib flows into Moroka River. Lummican Falls are located about 700-800m up this trib but progress can be very slow. We made it to the top of the 4th falls but we were running out of daylight and couldn't find a route down. The scrub was very thick in this area. I am not sure about the 5th falls but the 4th were easily the tallest. Very hard to get lost in the area if you are following the river.

Have fun and post some photos once you have completed the walk.

Hi mate, cheers.

So did you get to the 4th falls and back in one day?
In your opinion is stretching it out to a three day trip too long and slow going?
Bearing in mind I'm here for a good time not a rushed visit?
So say it's a 6 hour return walk from the first falls.
Would you say to visit all of them and back 12-14 hours?

I estimate it's roughly 4-5 hours to Lumican gully at a slow but steady pace.
Hour to set up camp and explore the falls there with no time limit.

I figured without knowing the track, if I plan for an extra day with extra food, it's a safe guard against the terrain, I know that there was fires a few years ago so I presume the bush would be very thick. So that's why I thought I'd leave a day spare just in case.


I'm looking forward to this trip, I'll try my best to write up as much information on this hike and take enough photos to share around the community. It's been a difficult one to find some good information on regarding times and degree of difficulty.

It's been on my bucket list for a number of years.

Thanks

From memory we didn't start walking until about 11am on day 1 and by the time we reached the 4th falls we were running out of daylight so we returned to Lummican Gully. We camped there overnight and in the morning we made our way up the trib to see Lummican Falls. We then returned to Moroka River and walked back to Horseyard Flat.

As I mentioned the scrub at the top of the 4th falls is/was thick. You'd have to allow time to find a route to the base. I think if you start early on day one an overnight trip should give you enough time to see all 5 falls (7 if you include Kent Creek and Lummican Falls). 3 days would give you plenty of time but perhaps a bit too much. Lummican Falls might take a couple of hours for a return trip due to the thick scrub so I'd suggest trying to visit all falls on Moroka River on day 1 and then visit the other two falls on the second day.

Moroka Gorge is a place we have planned to get back to as we want to get to the base of the 4th falls and then onto the 5th. As always though time to get way is a big issue.

Cheers for that, we aim to start walking at 10:00.
So it will give us plenty of swimming and fishing time each night and day.

I think I'll stick to the three days of real causal walking and exploring.
If we get bored I'm sure we will find something to do out there.

I'll be taking the GPS with me, garmin virb and a pen and paper to document a bit of the hike for others.
Not something I've really done before.

Planned dates are 30th, 31st Dec and 1st Jan

Thanks again

JoshAtherton - PM sent

Another VNPA walker told me that the walk from the easy to reach first Moroka falls onto the other ones was a scrub bashing trip from hell and that they didn't make much progress .They had to camp on an overgrown old 4 WD track as darkness approached.

How long ago was that PCV?

Maybe a year ago I spoke with that person.I have not been to the first falls up there for about 5 years.

We were there nearly 5 years ago as well. The only places I remember where we major problems with the scrub was heading up the trib to Lummican Falls and and near the top of the 4th falls. As I mentioned though we did walk in the river in some parts as the water level was low. The regrowth could now be worse than it was 5 years ago.

So, really the tracks not too bad (coming from someone who gets off on off track bush walking pushing yourself through scrub getting hit in the face with sticks etc)

We made it to Lummican campsite without too much difficulty.
So many caterpillars on us though, I mean literally hundreds and hundreds.

The walk to the camp took us approx (without the GPS on me to look at) 3 hours.
The group I took with me are pretty fast walkers though.

Realistically, you could do the whole walk in a day at a nice pace approx 12 hours.
The sign says 7 hours but we all agree that it's do-able, but would be rushed and silly as you probably wouldn't enjoy the hike as much.

We done it it 3 days, was perfect amount of time.
Not rushed, we swam, we explored, we took photos we fished and had a ball.


This is Kent Creek Falls, literally walked past it on the way down.



4th Falls- Head to the right (of this photo) and scramble down.



Last falls- From the 4th falls, head to the left and you can make it down the bottom with a bit of scrambling and good foot placement.

Moroka River



Survivorman- who needs to bring food?? 33cm trout!



Dinner-



River-

Thanks for the info and nice photos Josh, it's an area I haven't been to for around 15 years so I think I'm due....

Cheers

Great pics and update Josh. Hope to get out that way soon!

Well worth the effort by the looks of the photos.

Hi Josh
Have just got back from Moroka Gorge and wish to add my 2 bobs worth.
But 1st a Point of Order!
The Tali Karng-Moroka map (1:50,000), indicates 5 waterfalls on this section of the Moroka River. (not counting the side falls at Kent & Lummican). With Upper falls (Moroka Falls) representing # 1. Waterfalls #2, #3, #4 and #5 are located downstream from Lummican Gully. Your photos labelled Falls No 4 & 5 suggests you got to visit all 5 waterfalls along this section of the Moroka River. However, in my humble opinion the photos depict Falls No 3 & 4 respectively. Falls # 4 are the most spectacular and highest along this section of the river. It is worth noting that these falls are also the ones depicted in Eugene Von Guerard’s 1867 landscape painting titled: ‘Moroka River Falls (foot of Mt Kent Gipps Land)’.
Refer: https://www.australianmountains.com/morokagorge/
The map indicates another waterfall (#5) below this point and MickyB makes the point that they made it to the top of #4 falls but ran out of time and couldn’t find a route down with thick scrub at the top of the falls. I concur and would add it appears physically impossible to get down from the top of the 4th Falls. The escarpment/cliffs on the West side appear to go on forever!
Therefore, the question is: Has anybody managed to get down to Falls No 5, and if so, How?
Would be interested to hear from anyone who has managed to push beyond the escarpment at No 4 falls and succeeded in getting down to Falls No 5 located approx. 200metres further downstream.
For those interested in visiting the area, can advise as follows:
The sign at the start of the Moroka Gorge walk indicates 7 hrs return. Although possible, would suggest one allows 8 – 9hrs if you want to explore and enjoy the first 4 waterfalls. This represents a long day and would be an arduous walk. (Not for the faint hearted). Therefore, recommend a minimum 2 days to allow for some rest and recreation along the way. IF intending to explore beyond #4 falls allow 3 days, because getting down from #4 falls will represent a major challenge to any serious bushwalker.
For the record:
Day 1: Hiked in from HYF to Moroka Falls (#1) and beyond to Lummican Gully. Then down the Moroka River to Falls #2, #3 & #4. Returned to Lummican and camped.
Day 2: Departed Lummican midday, returning to HYF via Moroka falls. (Allow min 2hrs)
All that aside, Great Hike and great photos Josh.

MulgaBill wrote:The Tali Karng-Moroka map (1:50,000), indicates 5 waterfalls on this section of the Moroka River. (not counting the side falls at Kent & Lummican). With Upper falls (Moroka Falls) representing # 1. Waterfalls #2, #3, #4 and #5 are located downstream from Lummican Gully. Your photos labelled Falls No 4 & 5 suggests you got to visit all 5 waterfalls along this section of the Moroka River. However, in my humble opinion the photos depict Falls No 3 & 4 respectively. Falls # 4 are the most spectacular and highest along this section of the river.

I discusssed this with Josh via PM. I told him I thought I had made an error and that we actually made it to the top of the 5th falls, not the 4th. However, going back through my photos I think I was correct and we did in fact only reach the top of the 4th. I am looking forward to going back and trying to find a route down to the base and then onto the 5th falls. This photo is from the base of the 4th falls (I think) so there must be a route down.
Photo taken from: http://tonyreck.blogspot.com.au/2009/05 ... gorge.html

Is it worth packing in gear for an abseil and climb back up? We did this at Hidden falls, Jeeralang ck, near Kornalla Vic. Spectacular falls and gorge only accessible coming directly down the falls. A bit heavier hike, just go slow and take your time. Turns a bush bash into a multidiscipline epic.