Sometimes the greatest rewards require some effort, and this is one of those times. The walk down to Victoria Creek Cascades and the base of Victoria Falls is a steep one, but you’ll find that the two beautiful spots, which are great for wild swimming, are very much worth the effort.
Although the track is steep, it’s in excellent condition, so it’s not one of those hairy tracks where you feel like you might slip. Anyone willing to plod back up the cliffside afterwards can do this walk.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Victoria Falls, one of our favourite trails in the Blue Mountains.
The Victoria Falls Walking Track
The stats
Distance: 5.2km return
Elevation: 400m
Difficulty: Hard
Starting the trail, to Victoria Falls Lookout
From the car park you head straight into the bush and within 100m you’ll be standing at Victoria Falls Lookout. Despite the name you can’t see the falls from here, but you do get a wonderful view over the Grose Valley.
After admiring the mountains, it’s time to begin descending through the bush towards the falls.
Descending to Victoria Creek Cascades
The path has some steps, including a couple of short sections of rocky uneven ones, but the majority is a well maintained dirt track. The path is narrow but there is no exposure or any slippery terrain, so it was so much easier than I was expecting.
Whilst a lot of the trees are still quite badly charred after the fires of 2020 there are also lots of green shoots, and some wonderful patches of almost illuminous green ferns to indicate that the bush is starting to regenerate nicely.
You’ll pass a couple of overhangs before you start to get towards a more lush environment with lots of tree ferns.
Once you are 700m in to the descent, the path begins zig zagging its way down which makes it even easier because it’s so gradual. The bush is relatively dense but you do get the odd open view to the stunning mountains beyond.
There are a couple of trees down over the track, one is thin and easy to climb over and one is quite substantial and requires navigating around - but it’s nothing to worry about.
After quite a few switchbacks you’ll start to hear the rushing water signalling you have nearly made it to the cascades.
At the 2km mark you’ll reach a signpost, you make a right for the cascades. The path on the left is signposted as Burra Korain Flat, that’s also the route to Victoria Falls.
Arriving at Victoria Creek Cascades
The cascades are just 100m beyond the signpost. There’s currently a bit of debris to climb over to reach them, which may or may not be moved in time. It’s easy to get over though.
The cascades are gorgeous and we were lucky enough to visit after rain so they were running beautifully. So beautifully in fact that we thought they were Victoria Falls!
Luckily we worked out later that they weren’t or we would have missed the main event.
The pool at the base of the cascades is a great place for a dip, one of our favourites in the Blue Mountains in fact. The water is cold but not icy (this was in summer though) and it’s pretty easy access.
The first couple of rocks getting into the pool are a little slippery but not too bad and then it gets nice and deep so you can swim immediately.
It does get shallower again, with a sandy bottom, closer to the cascades but there’s enough room for a decent little swim.
It’s so refreshing and because it’s a fairly steep walk in, you don’t get any of the crowds that would definitely visit if the pool was more accessible. We got it to ourselves which was a dream!
Heading to Victoria Falls
When you’re ready to move on to the falls, walk back to the junction and take the other path. You’ll then pick up a sign for the top of the falls which is worth the short diversion to see them. It’s just 150m between the top of the falls and the cascades.
You can walk right to the edge of the falls and see the upper part of the waterfall, which is an impressive sight after rain. It’s an unfenced edge, but it’s good grippy rock so you can safely take a look.
Back on the trail and 50m later you’ll come to a view of the top and bottom of the falls, which is slightly obscured by foliage, but still a good look at the whole waterfall.
You can then descend the final 350m to the base of Victoria Falls.
The signpost warns that’s it’s a steep track (or something to that effect) but really it’s not a bad path at all. I didn’t think it felt much different to the rest of the track, perhaps slightly less well maintained, but certainly nothing to stop you getting down when you’ve come this far!
Once at the base there are lots of lovely smooth, flat rocks to sit on and enjoy one of the prettiest falls in the Blue Mountains.
It would make a really nice picnic spot as well as being another great swimming spot. Or more of a plunge pool really in terms of the depth.
The pool is large but shallow everywhere except the far left where it probably came up to my shoulders. It’s got a nice sandy bottom so it’s probably better for kids than the cascades which have a few rocks here and there.
It’s a very pretty waterfall and so peaceful. It’s the kind of place you can easily while away a few hours with a book before facing that big climb back up to the top!
The climb back up
I must admit that I found the first half of the climb pretty easy. The little bit up from the falls to the junction with the cascades is fairly steep, but then those gradual switchbacks are nice and shallow. I was feeling quite pleased with myself that I was possibly a bit fitter than I thought.
Then I hit the second half of the walk, which has more steps and is steeper and I immediately began huffing and puffing my way up. It was quite a hot and humid day, and by the time I reached the lookout, I was relieved to have finished. Not least because I wanted to stop for a breather, but came under attack by blood sucking flies.
Actual flies that look like normal innocent house flies, but are in fact blood thirsty vampires and as persistent as the worst mosquitoes.
Overall, it’s a great walk, in very pretty surrounds and I loved swimming at both spots. If you’re lucky enough to visit after some good rainfall it will be at its most impressive.
Getting to Victoria Falls
The car park for Victoria Falls is roughly 125km and a two hour drive from Sydney. It’s just over 20km and 25 minutes from Katoomba.
The last 5km of the road is unsealed but it’s in good condition and suitable for all vehicles (at time of writing).
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