The Rosewood Creek Circuit is one of the most beautiful walks in Dorrigo National Park, with pristine rainforest, spectacular turquoise swimming holes and the chance to visit two waterfalls. It’s a hike not to be missed.
It’s in a less visited part of the park than the Crystal Shower Falls area, and you’ll likely have most of the track to yourself. It’s not a difficult walk but you will have a fairly big hill to climb if you want to make it to the biggest falls in the park.
Here’s what to expect on the trail.
The Rosewood Creek Circuit
The stats
Distance: 9km
Elevation: 412m
Difficulty: Moderate
The Rosewood Creek Circuit is an easy walk if you stay on the main track and avoid the trails down to the swimming spots, Coachwood Falls and Red Cedar Falls….. but then it’d be less fun!
The descents down to the river and the falls are what make this walk moderately hard, otherwise the trail just gradually undulates the entire way.
We recommend allowing about 3 hours to do the entire trail (including Red Cedar Falls) and some more time if you fancy a few swims.
Starting the trail: clockwise or anticlockwise
We walked the trail in a clockwise direction, which is what the sign at the trailhead advised. To be honest I’m not sure that it makes much difference, but if you’re planning on visiting Red Cedar Falls (the most beautiful on the track) it means you’ll get there at the end of the trail, and it’s always great to finish on a highlight!
The highlights of the walk
Into the forest
You’ll head straight into the forest on an easy flat path which allows you to immediately soak up your surroundings. It’s a nature lovers paradise with ferns galore, twisted vines and gnarled roots.
It’s also a natural path, as opposed to the paved tracks of the more popular walks heading out from the Rainforest Centre (although the Wonga Track is still our favourite!).
The path gently undulates but it’s never steep along this part of the walk. It’s a very relaxing start to the trail and you can almost go into a meditative state, surrounded only by the sounds of nature; the birds and the running water of the creek below.
After 2km you’ll notice a rough side trail to the left which leads down to an idyllic turquoise swimming hole. The path is not manicured in any way but does have some foot holds to get you down, and it only takes a few minutes. It is a bit slippery though and I was grateful for walking poles.
The swimming hole was incredible - freezing cold even in summer - but incredible. Just watch out if visiting after heavy rain like we did as the current was a little strong in places. Also don’t sit on the log beside the pool, it looks like a lovely spot to relax but you will get leeched!
Onto Coachwood Falls
Back on the main trail and you’ll walk for a few hundred metres further before you see a second side trail down to yet another picturesque swimming hole. Again it’s not a maintained path and it is slippery but it’s a bit easier than the first one if you didn’t like the look of that one.
Either make a wonderful place for a bracing dip. As you continue on towards Coachwood Falls there are a couple of small creek crossings to make, but there are always rocks or a log to help you over and it’s nice and easy.
After the pool you’ll see a set of cascades that are pretty impressive. We saw two before we realised they weren’t actually Coachwood Falls (which is good, because the walk down to them was the worst of all the side trails!).
After leaving the second swimming spot, it’s just 900m until you reach the top of Coachwood Falls, which is signposted.
You can carefully walk on the rock along the top of the falls to see it from above, before continuing on the track a little further until you see another rather sketchy looking side trail to the left.
This was my least favourite of the offshoots but it was worth every slippery step to the bottom for the chance to sit beside the thundering falls. As with the other two side trails it only takes a few minutes but it is quite steep - again I really needed the poles for this bit!
Normally the pool at the base of Coachwood Falls would be a lovely swimming hole but it was raging on our visit and I was very happy just to sit beside it.
The falls might not be tall but they are incredibly beautiful and the setting, surrounded by the tall giants of the rainforest is sublime. It feels like a secluded secret spot, particularly because we got it to ourselves.
Onto Red Cedar Falls - 3km detour, 210m extra elevation gain
The next part of the walk heads uphill for half a kilometre before flattening again. After 900m on leaving Coachwood Falls you’ll reach the junction with Red Cedar Falls (this is 4km into the walk).
The Rosewood Creek Circuit technically doesn’t visit the falls but unless you’re really pushed for time, do not miss this side trail. It’s one of our favourite bits of the whole walk, and the falls, which are the highest in the park, are simply magnificent.
We’d heard from a few people walking the circuit in the opposite direction to us that the path was treacherous. I started out fully expecting not to make it to the end as I’m not a major fan of slippery scrambles. Luckily that wasn’t the case at all! It’s a well made path which zig zags down to the falls without ever being horrendously steep or slippery.
There are a couple of points where you walk across tiny creek crossings on wet rock but it is only the case of a few steps before you meet the dirt trail again. The only hard thing about it was climbing back up the hill afterwards! If you’ve made it down the path to Coachwood Falls you won’t find Red Cedar a problem.
It’s a pretty trail and you can hear the falls in the distance which brings an element of suspense as to what they are going to look like. After 1.5km from the junction, you round a corner and get your first look at the falls.
They are so dramatic and even though you can never see the entire waterfall in one go, it is a breathtaking sight. You can climb over a couple of rocks to sit with a great view of the falls, which makes for a lovely picnic spot.
You can also swim in the pool at the base of the falls - or you can if it isn’t flowing too heavily. For us it wasn’t safe for a swim but you can paddle at the pool you cross to get to the base, and even just sitting on the rocks and looking into the main pool will give you a good shower! I loved this spot and can promise you won’t regret the 3km it adds on to the trail.
The walk back up to the main track does feel quite steep, and the first half is tiring, before the incline becomes much more gradual and it feels a lot easier. In cool weather it probably wouldn’t feel too bad, but on a hot day it definitely felt like a work out!
Finishing the circuit
After you rejoin the main trail you do have more climbing to go (roughly another 100m in elevation gain) but it’s not as steep. You’ll pass some huge old Blackbutt trees and sadly a few stumps of fallen giants from the logging days.
It’s a nice stretch of forest but not as atmospheric as the earlier rainforest. At the 7.8km mark you’ll reach a signposted junction, where we turned right to head back to the Never Never picnic area - you could add on Casuarina Falls if you wanted to extend the walk further.
At this point you’re 1.1km from the car park and it’s a gradual uphill climb, combined with a few flat stretches of track through the shady forest.
All in all this is a fabulous walk, with the option of multiple swims in the pristine creek and visits two of Dorrigo’s most spectacular waterfalls. Whilst it couldn’t shift the Wonga as our all time favourite Dorrigo walk, it’s definitely next in line.
Getting there
The Rosewood Creek Circuit is located in Dorrigo National Park, 14km and roughly a 20 minute drive from the small village of Dorrigo. It is 45 minutes from Bellingen and 6 hours from Sydney. There is no public transport to this part of the park.
Where to park
The best place to park is the car park at the Never Never picnic area. There are three parking areas all within a few minutes walk of each other. If going clockwise the walk begins at the first car park you see before reaching the Never Never picnic area.
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