The Happy Valley Track takes you deep into a patch of spectacular rainforest; with towering tree ferns, weeping walls and plenty of picturesque overhangs. It’s beautiful in its own right, but when you reach the bottom, it’s like a whole new world.
You’re now in a canyon complete with its own mysterious waterfall grotto. From the bottom of the track you can make your own adventure, either following the trail to the grotto, or walking through the canyon, which can be knee deep at points.
Either way, this little known trail will not disappoint.
The Happy Valley Track
The stats
Distance: 2.4km return (add 550m return for Cathedral Creek)
Elevation gain: 180m
Difficulty: Moderate
The Happy Valley Track is relatively short, but quite steep. When dry it’s a fairly easy descent on a well formed path. There are one or two places where it can be a touch loose, but it’s very minimal. Wooden steps and zig zag slopes make the descent quite straightforward.
It can become very muddy after rain and sometimes - as the path is narrow - it can feel a little treacherous. The first time we walked the track was after heavy rain and I wouldn’t recommend it. Sections that we normally wouldn’t have blinked at suddenly felt a bit dodgy, and in hindsight we should have waited for better conditions.
The final few metres to the grotto involve walking along a narrowish ledge and then climbing down a small bit of cliff wall with foot holds carved into the rock.
Starting the trail: into the rainforest
You begin the walk on a narrow dirt path heading downhill through the bush and within 100m you’ve entered a dense and spectacular rainforest.
It’s a cool and dark place, with masses of tangled vines and hundreds of ferns. It’s amazing how wild it can feel just a few minutes into the track.
The path heads gently downhill and you’ll reach a junction after 215m.
You can either head left along the Happy Valley Track, or first take a short detour to Cathedral Creek.
It’s just 550m return to the creek and though it doesn’t differ too much to what you will see in Happy Valley, I still enjoyed taking a look.
The descent towards the creek is quite gradual and the path is well made. It’s a wonderful forest and the creek is a fern lover’s delight.
Descending on the Happy Valley Track
If you decided to detour to Cathedral Creek you head back to the junction and then take the track to Waterfall Creek (Happy Valley), you will have walked just over 750m at this point (or 215m without the detour).
The trail from the junction is quite flat at first and very pretty. Following rain there’s usually plenty of fungi, we saw one old tree stump which was absolutely covered.
Roughly 150m from the junction the path begins descending. It’s a dirt track and can be a little muddy after heavy rain, but it’s generally in good condition.
Some sections have stairs which make it a lot easier and you don’t have to worry about slipping - again this is more of a wet weather concern.
You’ll pass mossy walls, plenty of overhangs and weeping cliffs, which all make the walk very atmospheric. Although much of the path is in good shape, there are a couple of rocky sections and the odd few steps with loose soil.
There are a few narrow bits beside a drop off which would probably not be much fun for vertigo sufferers.
Arriving at Waterfall Creek
Around 950m into the track you’ll pass a big overhang and from here it’s another 170m down to the creek.
Around 1.1km into the track there’s a small muddy patch, it tends to stay muddy even in drier times, but it’s flat and therefore not too slippery.
The mud is just beside a small wet rock, almost like a little cascade you have to climb down. This bit can be a touch slippery, but it’s just one big step down and you’re at the creek.
Unfortunately a few trees have come down around the creek so you’ll have to climb over those to reach the grotto. In the larger tree trunk footholds have been carved into the wood to make it easier.
From the creek you have two options. You can continue along the official Happy Valley Track, heading left to the waterfall grotto, or head right - which is not a track - but offers the chance to walk through the canyon.
I’d recommend heading left to the grotto first so you don’t have to walk it in wet boots (wet boots are a guarantee in the canyon).
Heading to the Waterfall Grotto
At the creek, head downstream and towards the left and you will see steps carved into one of the tree trunks.
Climb over the debris and then cross the creek. There are rocks to use to cross the creek and water levels are generally low here and shouldn’t flood your boots.
It’s less than 50m before you will arrive at the top of the waterfall and you will be able to see down into the pool below.
This final bit of the walk is the trickiest part and the reason I advise against coming here during or after heavy rain.
You need to cross the creek and climb up the steps onto the narrow rocky ledge, there are rocks here to cross the creek and rocky steps to help you climb up onto the ledge.
You then need to traverse the ledge for a few metres to reach the steps carved out into the cliff which take you down to the waterfall.
The narrow trail becomes muddy after rain, but is ok when dry and actually not slippery despite how it looks (though always exercise caution).
Hug the cliff wall and on a dry day it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. You then have four steps carved into the cliff wall to negotiate. It’s not that hard, but there isn’t anything except mossy rock to hold onto for stability, so it feels a little more exposed than it would otherwise.
Some people will not find it an issue and hop down in an instant, but it could be unnerving for others.
Having done it now in dry conditions I would say it’s not too difficult as the foot holds are wide and well spaced out.
On the way back up, you don’t have anything to grab to pull yourself up, which makes it a little trickier - I feel like a bit of rope here would make all the difference and it would suddenly feel easy!
Swimming at the waterfall grotto
Once you’ve climbed down from the track you will arrive at the grotto at the base of the small pool. It’s a beautiful spot.
The waterfall itself is small, but the surrounding canyon walls tower over you and hundreds of ferns add atmosphere.
It feels completely hidden away from the outside world. The pool is quite shallow, more of a plunge pool than an actual swimming spot, but it does get to around chest height just beside the waterfall. There’s a fallen log inside the water which you can use as a perch as there’s no real room to swim.
It’s easy to access the water, but the small rocks can be a little uncomfortable underfoot.
The water is relatively cold and the tall canyon walls mean it is very likely that it always will be, as it won’t get a lot of sun. Despite this, I found it refreshing rather than out and out freezing - but I was visiting in summer!
Heading back up to the top
Once you’re ready to leave the grotto it’s a fairly steep walk back uphill, but there are a few little flat sections to take a break on if needed.
Once you are finished, give yourself a quick check over for leeches. As mentioned on our first visit we went after a lot of rain and Joe had picked up huge tiger leech - happily I made it through unscathed.
By wet rainforest standards this is nothing, so don’t let it put you off, but do have a quick once over before you get back in the car!
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the reserve, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Getting to the Happy Valley Track
The Happy Valley Track begins just beyond Cathedral Reserve on the junction between Mount Irvine Road and Boronia Point Trail in Mount Wilson. There is no car park as such, but just enough room for a couple of cars to pull off the road and not block the fire trail. The track then begins on the other side of the road to the parking area and is signposted.
The track is roughly a two hour drive from Sydney, 45 minutes from Katoomba and 30 minutes from Bilpin.
Note that there are no facilities either in the parking area or the walk itself. The nearest toilets (long drop) are at the Cathedral Reserve Campground.
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