Dasher Falls, Arm Falls and Devils Gullet

May 25, 2024

Dasher Falls, Arm Falls and Devils Gullet

‘Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.’ (Rachel Carson).

I was asked the other day why I liked bushwalking so much and my response was I need it for my mental health. Yes it has physical benefits but I don’t enjoy the puffing and sweating I endure when walking up a hill but I do enjoy the quiet of nature and the simplicity of nature and the beauty of nature. With some personal stress in my life of late, my mind was crying out for nature. To just stand by myself in nature and breath in the goodness and breath out the stress. It’s amazing the need I felt pulling me away from the noise and the clarity I received standing in stillness.

Today, I went exploring by myself. A couple of years ago I tried finding Dasher Falls. It is a simple walk but when I tried finding it years ago it wasn’t marked and my directions weren’t clear. I found myself too far down the track and I actually tried getting a picture of what I thought were dasher falls and I fell in the water which was freezing. Anyway, today I followed Google maps, in particular the photo of the location which I found easily. It was a short walk to the right which is clearly marked with pink ribbons. The falls were flowing down the rock face and it was amazing how the ferns were growing out of the rock face.

After finding Dasher Falls the next fall on my list was Arm Falls. This was an hour drive inland from Sheffield in the Meander Valley. The start of the walk was fairly easy to locate but it all went down hill from here. The sign informed me that the walk was an interpretation loop and it was correct as it was an interpretation of where you thought the track was.

As you can see, the height of the ferns covering the sign were like that across any resemblance of a track so I was walking blind.

After finding a little bridge and crossing I did manage to find what resembled a track but it didn’t go far and became a rabbit warren. At this point I realised I was up high and could hear the waterfall but going off track down the bank, which I did a couple of times, became unsafe. Being in the middle of nowhere on an abandoned, overgrown track, I made the decision to back track and go back to the car as I deemed it unsafe.

I did spend a minute standing still under a tree just being silent and taking in my surroundings.

As I didn’t get to complete the walk and find Arm Falls, I decided to head up to Devils Gullet as I love this scenery. Along the way I drove past Lake Parangana and jumped out of the car to take some pictures of this gorgeous location.

I turned off to drive the 14kms to reach Devils Gullet and was surprised to not drive past or see one other person. I had the whole area to myself. I headed up the track to Devils Gullet which is spectacular. The jagged rock cliff face dominates the space with a river weaving through the landscape down the bottom. Looking out from the platform you can see the layers of land reaching the clouds in the sky.