Daggs Falls

Killarney, Queensland, Australia

About Daggs Falls


Hiking Distance: roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2008-05-09
Date last visited: 2022-07-08

Waterfall Latitude: -28.34572
Waterfall Longitude: 152.34559

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Daggs Falls was the second of the so-called “Killarney Falls” along the Spring Creek Road (aka the Falls Drive) near the rural town of Killarney.

Unlike the other two of the Killarney Falls (Queen Mary Falls and Browns Falls, this was the easiest one to see because it didn’t require a hike.

Daggs_Falls_008_05082008 - Daggs Falls
Daggs Falls

Indeed, this was a true roadside waterfall with an established lookout peering right across and down towards where Spring Creek made its dramatic 38m drop.

Each time that we’ve visited this waterfall (once in May 2008 pictured above and another in July 2022), we were looking against the late morning or midday sun, which had casted shadows contrasting the bright rocks and stream..

That suggests to me that if you really want to see this place in better light on a sunny day, then you’ll want to come later in the afternoon to eliminate most of those shadows.

Under such conditions, my best photos came when clouds momentarily blocked the sun for some more even lighting.

Daggs_Falls_002_07072022 - Context of the lookout for Daggs Falls
Context of the lookout for Daggs Falls

Anyways, it really shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to fully appreciate the Daggs Falls from the overlook, but I don’t think there’s a way to safely reach the bottom.

Authorities

Daggs Falls resides in the Southern Downs Region near Killarney, Queensland. It is administered by the Southern Downs Regional Council. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Daggs_Falls_012_07072022 - Context of the pullout or parking bay off from the Spring Creek Road, where this spot was right in front of the Daggs Falls Lookout
Daggs_Falls_003_07072022 - Approaching the lookout for Daggs Falls as seen on our July 2022 visit
Daggs_Falls_006_07072022 - Portrait look down at the Daggs Falls in pretty high flow during our July 2022 visit
Daggs_Falls_007_07072022 - Due to the sun, there were dark shadows contrasting against the bright rocks and foliage around the Daggs Falls, which made photographing it difficult during our July 2022 visit
Daggs_Falls_005_iPhone_07082022 - When taking pictures of Daggs Falls, I found that the iPhone did a better job of real-time postprocessing to ensure that there wouldn't be blow out zones or totally black zones either as seen during our July 2022 visit
Daggs_Falls_007_iPhone_07082022 - Broad look down at the Daggs Falls with the benefit of postprocessing from the iPhone during our July 2022 visit
Daggs_Falls_007_05082008 - Another look at Daggs Falls as seen in May 2008
Daggs_Falls_019_05082008 - Julie on the lookout platform during our first time here in May 2008
Daggs_Falls_014_05082008 - Daggs Falls in long exposure as taken on our May 2008 visit


Daggs Falls resides near Killarney in the Southern Downs (Darling Downs) Region of South East Queensland, which itself is about 110km from Brisbane and 202km from Byron Bay.

I’ll describe the driving directions from Brisbane since that seemed to be the most sensible approach from an urban centre.

Daggs_Falls_001_07072022 - Context of the pullout area or car park for Daggs Falls just off the Spring Creek Road during our July 2022 visit
Context of the pullout area or car park for Daggs Falls just off the Spring Creek Road during our July 2022 visit

By the way, there are also a couple ways to go about doing this drive, which we learned the hard way due to flooding that wiped out the shortest route during our July 2022 visit.

The Shortest Route From Brisbane To Daggs Falls

The most straightforward way to drive to Daggs Falls from Brisbane would be to go through the rural town of Boonah on the way there.

This is actually the route that the GPS satnav units and iPhone routing apps advocate for since it’s the shortest distance as well.

So from Brisbane CBD, we drove roughly 30 minutes on a combination of the M3, M5, M7, and the M2 towards the suburb of Redbank.

Drive_to_Queen_Mary_Falls_004_iPhone_07082022 - Driving the rural State Route 93 towards Boonah from Ipswich
Driving the rural State Route 93 towards Boonah from Ipswich

Shortly after passing through Redbank, we kept left to stay on the M15 motorway as it veered around the southern end of Ipswich as the National Highway 15.

At about 13km from our departure from the M2, we then took the State Route 93 south towards Boonah for the next 42km.

Note that we also could have remained on the National Highway 15 for 42km towards Fassifern before backtracking for 11km towards Boonah.

Then, from Boonah, we’d drive another 14.5km south along the State Route 93 towards Carneys Creek Road (Route 21) on the right, and we’d follow this for another 43.5km to the Daggs Falls pullout or parking bay.

Drive_to_Queen_Mary_Falls_020_iPhone_07082022 - As much as the GPS wanted to take us on the shortest route to Daggs Falls and Queen Mary Falls via Head Road, this sign made it abundantly clear that we couldn't go that way due to flooding on our July 2022 visit
As much as the GPS wanted to take us on the shortest route to Daggs Falls and Queen Mary Falls via Head Road, this sign made it abundantly clear that we couldn’t go that way due to flooding on our July 2022 visit

Ordinarily, this drive is supposed to take around 2-2.5 hours, but flooding closed of Head Road (between Carneys Creek Road and Spring Creek Road; all of which are on the Route 21).

The All Weather Route From Brisbane To Daggs Falls

As for taking the more reliable all-weather route from Brisbane to Queen Mary Falls, that pretty much meant driving the same route as mentioned above towards Ipswich, and then following the National Highway 15 towards Warwick.

The drive from the M2 departure along the National Highway 15 towards Warwick was about 107km, and that made up the majority of this route.

After going through Warwick, we then followed Route 1 nearly 30km towards Killarney, where after passing through that rural town, we then found ourselves on the Tourist Route 21.

Drive_to_Queen_Mary_Falls_030_iPhone_07082022 - Some of the signage leading to Queen Mary Falls actually advocated for us to bypass Warwick on the way to Killarney over rural agricultural roads during our July 2022 visit. This shot was taken on the drive towards Warwick before getting intercepted by the signage pointing a more shortcut approach to get to Killarney Falls
Some of the signage leading to Queen Mary Falls actually advocated for us to bypass Warwick on the way to Killarney over rural agricultural roads during our July 2022 visit. This shot was taken on the drive towards Warwick before getting intercepted by the signage pointing a more shortcut approach to get to Killarney Falls

Note that prior to getting to Warwick, there are signs that essentially shortcut and bypass Warwick in favor of getting to Killarney via rural roads.

So that can be an option, especially if there’s slow traffic and limited passing opportunities on the National Highway 15.

Anways, after passing through Killarney, we went the final 11km to the Queen Mary Falls car park.

Overall, this drive took us about 3 hours.

Daggs_Falls_013_07072022 - Looking back at the parking bay off the Spring Creek Road for the Daggs Falls
Looking back at the parking bay off the Spring Creek Road for the Daggs Falls

For geographical context, Killarney was 34km (about 30 minutes drive) east of Warwick, 182km (2.5 hours drive) southwest of Brisbane, 204km (3 hours drive) west from Byron Bay, and 210km (3 hours drive) west of Gold Coast.

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Downstream to upstream sweep from the lookout

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Tagged with: killarney, southern downs, queensland, australia, waterfall, spring creek, falls drive, teviott brook, roadside



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Dagg’s is my brother in law!!! September 30, 2009 3:29 pm by Maria Isabel Y. Villar - How nice to be in a very green and clean countryside... I love the falls... Dagg, Brown and Queen Mary's Falls. I have been there 3x and I took so many pictures. You can revitalise your spirit and to be in touch with nature... it can take your stress away. I just couldn't imagine that… ...Read More

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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.
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