Kurrawonga Falls are a waterfall located in the

Mount Kaputar National Park The Mount Kaputar National Park is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, surrounding the proximities of Mount Kaputar, a volcano active between 17 and 21 million years ago. It is located east of Narrabri and northwest of ...

, approximately east of the town of

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At ...

in northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Geography

The falls are a permanent feature of the Horsearm Creek . The creek flows through dense native

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving ...

across the Kaputa Plateau and into a steep

chasm In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben w ...

in the surrounding rocks, falling over into a

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

beneath. The volume of the falls varies with seasonal

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

Access

The falls, along with the historic Scutts Hutt, are accessible via a return hike of approximately along the Scutts Hutt Firetrail from Kaputar Road, a

public road A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

, and the nearby Bark Hut camping grounds. Branching from the

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

is a track to the hut which is sign-posted, but the last leading down to the falls is not. The trail is categorised as 'Grade 5' (''very steep, difficult, rough, obstacles'') with an

elevation gain In running, cycling, and mountaineering, cumulative elevation gain refers to the sum of every gain in elevation throughout an entire trip. It is sometimes also known as cumulative gain or elevation gain, or often in the context of mountain travel, ...

of and is recommended for experienced bushwalkers only. Average journey time is 10-12 hours, and mobile phone coverage is extremely limited.

2020 Bushfires

In January-February 2020 the

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

that ravaged eastern Australia swept through the

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

, forcing its temporary closure, and access to the falls and other attractions were closed to the public.

References

External links

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service - Scutts Hut and Kurrawonga Falls walk

Narrabri Region Information Directory - Mount Kaputar National Park

Australian Walking Track Grading System
{{coord missing, New South Wales Waterfalls of New South Wales