About Blencoe Falls
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.
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
More specifically, it was where the tribal council took place, which was right at the top of this remote 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.
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.
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.
Related Trip Reports
Related Top 10 Lists
Related Itineraries
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
This content is for subscribers only. See Membership Options.Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
This content is for subscribers only. See Membership Options.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
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
Nearest Waterfalls
