About Wangi Falls
Wangi Falls (“Wangi” rhymes with “wrong guy”) was an attractive set of dual waterfalls sitting at the far western end of Litchfield National Park.
In the state that we saw the falls during both our June 2006 and June 2022 visits, we’ve seen the water split into two segments.
The narrower segment was a thin drop weaving between notches in the rugged escarpment while the thicker segment featured a pronounced two-tier drop that was taller than its thinner counterpart.
There was enough volume on the thicker drop producing a decent afternoon rainbow in its mist providing a bit more color to an already colorful scene.
Speaking of rainbows, we’ve experienced this waterfall at two different times of the day – once in the early morning and another in the afternoon.
Timing A Visit to Wangi Falls
As far as when to visit Wangi Falls from a time-of-day standpoint, the morning versus the afternoon yields very different experiences.
When we showed up in the early morning, the walking track was very quiet and we happened to encounter some wildlife that included a kangaroo as well as bats (or flying foxes as they’re sometimes called).
However, later in the day, more people would show up as it’s one of the more popular waterfalls in Litchfield National Park, and this included tour buses.
While spotting wildlife might be less likely with the increased human footprint, we were able to experience late afternoon rainbows in the mist of Wangi Falls.
To my knowledge, Wangi Falls has year-round flow thanks to the permanence of Wangi Creek, which supports the last remaining monsoon rainforest as it has receded with the transition to a more drier climate than it once was on a geologic time scale.
That said, there’s a big difference between the waterfall’s flow between the Wet (usually November through April) and the Dry (usually May through October).
Each time we’ve experienced the waterfall (in 2006 and 2022), they happened in the month of June, which is typically right when Australia’s Top End makes its annual transition from the Wet Season to the Dry Season.
While there might be less water in Wangi Creek during the Dry Season, an added benefit would be the possibility of using the large plunge pool for swimming to cool off.
That’s because the Wet Season floods tend to allow the dangerous saltwater crocodiles to make their way to the waterways around the falls (which would be when the park service closes access to the plunge pools given the threat is too high).
Experiencing Wangi Falls
From the car park (see directions below), we only had to walk about 100m or so to the main viewing areas for Wangi Falls (as shown in the photo at the top of this page).
There’s a cafe nearby the car park, which can get very busy since there’s not really many options on the western side of Litchfield National Park.
By the way, despite the signs indicating that there was free WiFi at Wangi Falls (courtesy of this cafe, I’d imagine), it didn’t work for us during our June 2022 visit.
Anyways, the short and gently sloping walk first arrives at a large rest area which also doubles as a swimming hole access to the large plunge pool before Wangi Falls (provided it’s safe from saltwater crocs).
Just a short jaunt along the boardwalk over the wetlands to the right was another spur to the main lookout for Wangi Falls, which was where we got the pictures that you see at the top of this page.
For most people, this is the extent of a visit to Wangi Falls, but you can continue on the optional anticlockwise Wangi Loop, which goes for about 1.7km in total.
Beyond the end of the boardwalk, the track then passes through a monsoonal rainforest before ascending steeply towards a treetop deck or lookout (about 400m from the swimming area).
There’s no view at the treetop deck due to it being surrounded by trees, but it does offer a bit of a shaded rest area given the moderate climbing it took to get to that point.
Beyond the treetop deck, the track continued its ascent to the top of the escarpment, which eventually crosses over a footbridge traversing Wangi Creek well upstream of the falls and then descending back to the swimming area to complete the circuit.
The circuit track did not yield any additional views of Wangi Falls (at least if you obey the signs), but it did offer some teasing glimpses of the escarpment lands as well as a peaceful experience since most people don’t do this walk.
A visit to Wangi Falls can be as little as 15 minutes, but you’ll want to allow about an hour to do the entire loop if you’re inclined to do it.
Authorities
Wangi Falls resides in Litchfield National Park near Batchelor in the Northern Territory. It is administered by the Northern Territory Government. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
Wangi Falls is located at the western part of the main road (Litchfield Park Road or Hwy 30) about 66km west of Batchelor and Rum Jungle.
It’s a short distance north of where the road bends away from the spur 4wd road to Tjaynera (Sandy Creek) Falls and the Blythe Homestead.
The well-signed turnoff is to the east side (right as you drive north) of the main road.
For geographical context, Batchelor was 97km (over an hour drive) south of Darwin, 145km (about 90 minutes drive) northwest of Pine Creek, and about 237km (2.5 hours drive) northwest of Katherine.
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Long video panning from the viewing platform over to the falls while doing a zoomed in U-sweep from the taller falls to the smaller falls
Another long video sweep from the viewing platform over to the closed swimming area before panning over to the falls with U-shaped sweep from small to taller falls
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