Blencoe Falls

Girringun (Lumholtz) National Park, Queensland, Australia

About Blencoe Falls


Hiking Distance: 400m round trip
Suggested Time: 30 minutes

Date first visited: 2008-05-19
Date last visited: 2008-05-19

Waterfall Latitude: -18.22752
Waterfall Longitude: 145.53961

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Blencoe Falls was a waterfall that Julie and I went on a bit of an adventure to visit.

Even though it shared Girringun National Park (also known as Lumholtz National Park) with Wallaman Falls, access to Blencoe was a very non-trivial affair.

Blencoe_Falls_014_05182008 - Blencoe Falls
Blencoe Falls

After all, it took us a good three hours of rough driving to even get to the car park for the falls (see directions below).

This drive included a few scary sections where we probably would have been better off with a high clearance vehicle instead of our low clearance 2wd passenger vehicle.

It took us equally as long to get back to civilization so we spent a minimum of six hours of driving from Millaa Millaa.

So was it all worth it?

Well, what lured Julie and I to this remote waterfall in the first place was that it featured prominently on the reality TV show Survivor in its second season, which took place in the Australian Outback.

More specifically, it was where the tribal council took place, which was right at the top of this remote falls.

Blencoe_Falls_003_05182008 - Looking out towards the Herbert River Gorge on the way to Blencoe Falls
Looking out towards the Herbert River Gorge on the way to Blencoe Falls

As for Blencoe Falls itself, Blencoe Creek initially plunged some 90m before cascading another 230m (as you can see from the photo at the top of this page).

These three major stages were what made this waterfall a relatively hidden giant though its flow seemed to reflect an increasingly diminishing flow.

During our visit in mid-May 2008, Far North Queensland was transitioning from the Wet Season of the Australian Summer to the Dry Season of the Australian Winter.

Shortly downstream of the dramatic waterfall, Blencoe Creek then fed the Herbert River, whose gorge we were also able to see as we walked towards the overlook that yielded the best views of the falls.

Speaking of the walk, it was a mere 200m from the car park to the lookout platform at its end.

In addition to the regal view of all of the waterfall’s tiers, we also noticed some hardy hoop pine trees, which were said to be abundant during the days of the dinosaurs.

Blencoe_Falls_013_05182008 - The full context of Blencoe Falls
The full context of Blencoe Falls

These days, the hoop pines could only be found in rugged gorges like this one where they would be less prone to fire.

This walk was sufficient for us to get the feel of the rugged Australian Outback as we had no intentions of doing even longer walks in the area.

Indeed, neither Julie nor I felt as if we were hardy nor self-sufficient enough to endure an extended multi-day stay here.

Although there were primitive bush camping sites (one of which seemed to be as close to the tribal council location that you could legally stay at), we were merely content to spend 40 minutes here before intrepidly heading back out towards civilization.

Since the long drive made up most of this adventure, we did notice quite a bit of wildlife as well as free-roaming cattle.

Amongst the fauna we witnessed, there were at least 5 gray kangaroos, 1 wallabie, 2 emus, and lots of cows.

Blencoe_Falls_014_jx_05182008 - A flattened section of bush resulting from Cyclone Larry damage, which we noticed on the way to Blencoe Falls
A flattened section of bush resulting from Cyclone Larry damage, which we noticed on the way to Blencoe Falls

We even saw a flattened section of bush that seemed to be the remnants of damage from Cyclone Larry.

Indeed, Nature was in charge in this part of the country.

Yet the amazing thing about our visit was that we weren’t the only ones who were at Blencoe Falls as we shared the experience with one other guy who was about to spend some time bush camping alone here!

Authorities

Blencoe Falls resides in the Girringun National Park near Ravenshoe or Cardwell, Queensland. It is administered by the State of Queensland Department of Environment and Science. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Blencoe_Falls_015_jx_05182008 - We noticed some free roaming cows while driving the rough road leading to the turnoff for Blencoe Falls from Mt Garnet
Blencoe_Falls_017_jx_05182008 - Approaching a very rocky creek crossing (one of a couple of these with one of them being the crossing of the Herbert River), which was very non-trivial in our 2wd passenger vehicle
Blencoe_Falls_013_jx_05182008 - The unpaved road got rougher the closer to Blencoe Falls we went.  Here was a small muddy patch with a puddle
Blencoe_Falls_010_jx_05182008 - The final turnoff taking us the last 5.2km to Blencoe Falls
Blencoe_Falls_005_jx_05182008 - The final 5.2km stretch of road to Blencoe Falls narrowed considerably, but didn't seem too terrible at first
Blencoe_Falls_009_05182008 - Our first glimpse at Blencoe Falls.  This was its uppermost drop at 90m tall
Blencoe_Falls_068_05182008 - Following the signs for the short walking track to Blencoe Falls
Blencoe_Falls_011_05182008 - Julie on the short 200m track to Blencoe Falls
Blencoe_Falls_040_05182008 - Julie at the overlook platform for Blencoe Falls
Blencoe_Falls_026_05182008 - An ancient hoop pine tree clinging onto the precipitous cliff overlooking Blencoe Falls
Blencoe_Falls_008_jx_05182008 - This was the hill in the final rough 5.2km stretch that ultimately damaged the underside of our rental car
Blencoe_Falls_009_jx_05182008 - At first, I felt relief in getting past the hill with the rut, but then I realized something was wrong when the car seemed like it was picking up dirt too easily


There were a couple of approaches to Blencoe Falls that we were aware of.

The first approach was a dry-weather only 4wd route just north of Cardwell at Kennedy (I believe it would start from Kennedy Creek Rd), which led some 71km west to the rugged 4wd turnoff leading south to the falls car park itself.

Unfortunately, according to some locals we’d spoken to at Cardwell, Cyclone Larry made this road so bad that 2wd vehicles (which we were driving) shouldn’t even bother.

So we didn’t go this way, and we can’t say more about it.

As a result, we took the longer approach from the north just west of the remote dusty town of Mt Garnet.

From the town of Millaa Millaa, we took our 2wd rental vehicle along the Hwy 25 (Millaa Millaa-Malanda Rd/East Evelyn Rd) towards the Kennedy Hwy (Hwy 1), and then we followed Hwy 1 south and west towards Ravenshoe.

Continuing west of Ravenshoe, we then passed through Mt Garnet (73km from Millaa Millaa).

At about 3km west of Mt Garnet, we then left the Kennedy Hwy and turned left onto the unsealed Gunnawarra Rd.

Blencoe_Falls_004_jx_05182008 - Driving the unmaintained 4wd road to access Blencoe Falls
Driving the unmaintained 4wd road to access Blencoe Falls

We followed the sandy Gunnawarra Rd for about 30km to a junction after following the signs at each junction.

Then, we kept right at this junction and then made a left at the following turnoff about 3.1km later.

After 2.3km, we kept right and then kept right again another 2.7km later (again, we were following the signs at each junction).

Nearly 15km later, we kept left and then continued on the rough road as it curved east over the next 30km or so.

This included a crossing of the Herbert River in which the water level was actually low enough for us to get across without issue.

However, the rockiness of the riverbed was killer on our low clearance 2wd vehicle.

There were also a few small mud patches that still managed to retain some water from recent late season rains.

Finally, we reached a signed junction to our right, which was the final 5.2km stretch to Blencoe Falls.

Unfortunately, this stretch of road was the roughest of them all and the signs were correct in warning that high clearance vehicles were recommended for this route.

A particularly hairy stretch involved going over a hill where just beyond its apex was a large hole that was deep enough to scrape the underside of the car.

This would be an issue going in the other direction (on the way out) as the hill was steep enough that we needed momentum to make it up the hill.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t just slow down over the hole to avoid scraping the car’s underside (or else we’d lose enough momentum to get over the hill).

So by gunning it, we ultimately pried loose the dust cover that protected the oil pan.

Eventually, the car park was at the end of this rugged stretch of road.

As mentioned earlier, the route that we took consumed a solid three hours in each direction.

We definitely would not have even entertained driving this route if there was even the slightest threat of rain as we would very easily have been stuck in the mud or at the river crossings.

Find A Place To Stay

Bottom up sweep of the long multi-tiered waterfall and cascade

Tagged with: girringun, lumholtz, national park, hinchinbrook, ravenshoe, tully, outback, queensland, australia, waterfall, survivor, herbert river, top 10 australia, blencoe, 4wd, cardwell, kennedy, garnet



Visitor Comments:

Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...

No users have replied to the content on this page


Share your thoughts about what you've read on this page

You must be logged in to submit content. Refresh this page after you have logged in.

Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:

If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...

No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall


Have you been to a waterfall? Submit a write-up/review and share your experiences or impressions

Review A Waterfall

Nearest Waterfalls

The Waterfaller Newsletter

The Waterfaller Newsletter is where we curate the wealth of information on the World of Waterfalls website and deliver it to you in bite-sized chunks in your email inbox. You'll also get exclusive content like...

  • Waterfall Wednesdays
  • Insider Tips
  • User-submitted Waterfall Write-up of the Month
  • and the latest news and updates both within the website as well as around the wonderful world of waterfalls


How To Build A Profitable Travel Blog In 4 Steps

Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
Read More About Johnny | A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls.