Mt Paris Dam

December 02, 2023

Mt Paris Dam

Mt Paris Dam was a destination I had wanted to visit for a long time but it is not really a place I drive through too often. My partner and I were keen to get away for the weekend so we went and stayed at Bridport for the weekend and went to North Croppies Beach on the Saturday and then headed to Derby on the Sunday to visit the Derby Tunnel and Mt Paris Dam.

North Croppies Beach was deserted with absolutely no one else there. My partner hit the water spearfishing and I had the day to explore. I walked along the coastline between North and South Croppies Beach and ventured up a beach that had no human footprints in it. I love the isolation of this place and how relaxing it is taking in all the senses. The colour explosion of natives across the rocks looked amazing and the water was crystal clear.

Once I got back to North Croppies beach, I hit the water for a swim and to cool down. The water was beautiful to swim and float in. I also loved the fact I could see the sandy floor and therefore could dodge the seaweed.

The next day we headed to Derby to walk through the Derby Tunnel. Derby was a busy place with bike riders everywhere. We found the carpark and started our walk to the tunnel.

The tunnel was great however it was very popular with the bike riders and they go whizzing down there with limited vision so we had to quickly jump out of the way. It was originally an old tin mine and was around 200m in length.

We then jumped back in the car and headed to Mt Paris Dam. There was a turn off at Branxholm and it was a 11km drive along a gravel road through forestry. When we reached Mt Paris Dam it was a short walk down to the dam. What a magical place this is. A beautifully designed man made structure nestled in amongst nature showing balance between the sharp, structural giants of concrete with the green shades of shrubbery and the brown flow of water.