Steavenson Falls, a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

on the

Steavenson River The Steavenson River, sometimes incorrectly referred to as Steavensons River, a minor inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower South Eastern Highlands bioregion and Nort ...

, is located southeast of Marysville,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

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 ...

. The falls are one of the tallest in Victoria, with five cascades, a total descent of , the last having a clear drop of more than .

History

Residents cut a track to the falls in 1866. The falls and the river were named after John Steavenson (Assistant Commissioner of Roads and Bridges), who first visited the site of what is now Marysville in 1862. He was carrying out a survey of the area to try to find a new alignment for the road to the gold fields at

Woods Point Woods Point is a small town in Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia and is located on the banks of the Goulburn River. At the , Woods Point and the surrounding area had a population of 37, down from 94 in 2006. History The town began as a g ...

. The ''Steavenson Falls Scenic Reserve'' was proclaimed in 1959 to protect the falls and their surroundings. The Reserve is jointly administered by the Department of Primary Industry and a Voluntary Committee of Management.

The reserve

There are a number of walks in the reserve varying from easy to the more difficult. A turbine driven by water drawn from the weir at the base of the falls generates power for the floodlights and the lights along the paths. Funding for these works was obtained by the local Tourist Association from the old

Tourism Victoria The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

. The floodlighting was formally turned on by the then Minister for Tourism - The Honourable

Murray Byrne Murray Lewis Byrne (29 August 1928 – 7 November 2012) was an Australian politician from the Liberal Party who served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Ballarat Province from 21 June 1958 to 28 April 1976. He served as Vict ...

MLC. on 3 November 1972. Marysville's water supply also comes from this weir. Dense forest covers the entire Steavenson Falls Reserve in the steep-sided valley. Pure stands of

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also * Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountai ...

which regenerated after the 1939 bushfires grow in sheltered places. Elsewhere the forest contains a mixture of eucalyptus species, notably

Mountain Grey Gum ''Eucalyptus cypellocarpa'', commonly known as mountain grey gum, mountain gum, monkey gum or spotted mountain grey gum, is a species of straight, smooth-barked forest tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has relatively large, lanc ...

Messmate Messmate is a common name for a group of species of tree in the plant genus ''Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other ...

and Narrow-leafed Peppermint. Other trees growing in association with the eucalyptus include

Myrtle Beech ''Nothofagus cunninghamii,'' commonly known as myrtle beech or Tasmanian myrtle, is the dominant species of cool temperate rainforests in Tasmania and Southern Victoria. It has low fire resistance and grows best in partial shade conditions. It ...

which has small, shiny, dark green leaves and is restricted to areas of high rainfall, Blackwood, one of the wattles, a tall tree with masses of pale yellow flowers, and Silver Wattle. The sheltered river margins support Soft and Rough Tree-ferns, their height bearing testimony to their considerable age.

Lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environme ...

s are often seen in the morning and after rain searching for insects and worms. It's easy to see where they have been by the prominent scratch marks in the leaves and twigs on the ground. Steavenson Falls is a major tourist attraction with some 180,000 visitors a year.

Bushfire damage

A major bushfire passed through the area on 7 February 2009, destroying almost all of the man made infrastructure and causing extensive damage to the forest in the area. The only recoverable piece of infrastructure was the hydro-electric generator which had been used to light the falls at night. After the fire major works were undertaken to restore the road and visitor facilities and to remove dead trees because of the danger they presented. Extensive natural regeneration of the native forest has also occurred. The area is regrowing nicely as seen in this video but there is still lots to remind us of the intensity of the fires.

References

{{Australian Waterfalls , state=autocollapse Waterfalls of Victoria (Australia) Horsetail waterfalls Yarra Valley