Eastern Tiers Waterfalls – 26th October 2019
Time to make the most of warmer weather with an opportunity to chase waterfalls in the Eastern Tiers – surprisingly close to the east coast.
Depending on energy of walkers, all or some of Meetus, Hardings and Meadstone Falls will delight the eyes! With short walks (but steep and rocky in places), the day should be a good outing for families with younger children, and people who aren’t experienced bushwalkers. All ages welcome. The tracks are not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers.
Hardings Falls: A really good description, including photos, can be seen at
https://waterfallsoftasmania.com.au/waterfalls/hardings_falls
Walk distance is less than 2 km each way, beginning with a relatively level walk along old logging roads before the steep descent (about 60 metres drop) into the gorge.
Meetus Falls: You can preview this quite high waterfall at
https://waterfallsoftasmania.com.au/index.php/waterfalls/meetus_falls
While the websites do mention a barbecue area and toilets, the condition of these facilities can vary due to careless users and vandalism. Again, a short walk – less than 1 km each way, with about 80 metres drop into the gorge (and climb out again afterwards!). There is a longer track loop. Your leader will confirm whether this will be included.
Lost Falls: Your leader recently visited the area, and found that Meadstone Falls remains very difficult to access due to deteriorated roads and collapsed bridges. Instead, if time permits, the third falls for the day will be Lost Falls. See https://waterfallsoftasmania.com.au/waterfalls/lost_falls for some information. These falls are located a few km south of the Lake Leake road, and again, a relatively short walk with longer options.
| Thinking of bringing along a children’s or youth group? Click for Information for Leaders working with Children and Youth |
Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone your walk leader, Andrew Madden, ph. 6399 3315 (you may need to leave a message for Andrew to call you back). The departure time is 8:30 am from the Door of Hope Church car park, Launceston. A good meeting place en-route is at Avoca – just east of the bridge, where there is a park with a toilet block. You would need to be there by 9:30 am. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of the listed time. For most Boots N’ All walks, the leader must be notified of any other people you intend to bring along, and you should always contact the walk leader if intending to participate in a particular Boots N’ All walk.
To access this area from northern Tasmania: From Launceston, follow the Midland Highway 55km south to the junction of the Esk Main Road at Conara. Turn left and continue 20 km to Avoca. The meeting place is at the park on the right, just after crossing the bridge. From Avoca, turn right into Royal George Rd, and follow through Royal George (17 km from Avoca). At 24 km from Avoca, the road is no longer sealed, and at 27 km, it swings south and becomes the Old Coach Road. Continue south a further 5 km (now 2 km from Avoca) and turn left into McKay’s Rd. The road now winds eastward for a further 8 km, and the turnoff to Hardings Falls is on the right. The walk will commence from near the turnoff, as the road towards the falls is somewhat degraded and rough.
For Meetus Falls, return to Old Coach Rd. from Hardings Falls, but cross to continue west, then south, along McKays Rd. Follow the road for about 18 km, and the turn-off for Meetus Falls will be on the left. Follow this road about 600 metres, then swing right and continue a further 500 metres to reach the carpark.
After leaving Meetus Falls, turn left at McKays Rd and continue 10.5 km to reach the Lake Leake Rd.
For Lost Falls, cross the Lake Leake Rd and continue south (gravel road) for just over 3 km. Turn left into a side road and follow a further 2.5 km to reach the car park.
After leaving Lost Falls, retrace the 6.5 km to Lake Leake Rd, and turn left. Continue west through Kalangadoo for 36 km to reach Campbell Town, and then 67 km to Launceston.
Warnings:
Please take note of the weather forecast on the day. Be aware of possible hazards such as insect bites and snakes. Weather can be very changeable in October, so carry warm clothes and a raincoat, even if the day appears sunny early on. Sturdy shoes are recommended. Please make sure you have adequate drinking water for the day.
Map details and references:
For Hardings Falls, 1:100000 map is Break O’ Day (Tasmap 8514) and 1:25000 map is Henry (TasMap 5836)
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G -41.50.974 147.59.11
Meetus Falls: Tasmap 1:25000 map is Snow (TasMap 5635)
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G -41.9504278 147.8829972
Meadstone Falls: Tasmap 1:25000 map is St John (TasMap 5837)
Zone Easting Northing Latitude Longitude
55G -41.742359330913 148.081141603076
Three are no peakbagger points associated with this walk. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger’s Guide (2000 revision) which can be found and downloaded (as an Excel spreadsheet) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.
GPX version of the track: Click here to download. Google Earth version of the track: Click here to download.