About Woolshed Falls
Woolshed Falls was a cascading waterfall over a granite surface that gave it an interesting multi-tiered characteristic.
While the falls itself was attractive and reason alone to make a visit, it was actually an important part of Australia’s European settlement history.
This was especially the case when it came to gold.
Woolshed Falls and Gold
Gold was said to be discovered in the area at the end of 1852, and it later sparked the modernization of Victorian bushlands.
Aided by favorable geology, this was ultimately the site of the establishment of what would become the Woolshed Goldfields (one of the richest and most significant in the history of Victoria).
In particular, the geology behind the waterfall’s plunge pool collected alluvial gold from further upstream, which drained much of the Woolshed Valley.
Although Spring Creek (also known as Reids Creek at the Woolshed Falls) appeared to have been restored by the time we made our visits, prospectors had modified Spring Creek to facilitate the extraction of gold.
They used to divert Spring Creek past the waterfall’s plunge pool so during those times, I’d imagine that would have adversely impacted Woolshed Falls.
According to the maps, the creek was renamed Reedy Creek beyond the gold-rich plunge pool.
The Bushrangers
The Woolshed Valley was also the site of the beginning of the chain of events that would end in Ned Kelly’s last stand in Glenrowan.
The event that was the beginning of the end of the bushrangers’ resistance to succumbing to the crown (i.e. the police, the Victorian government, and ultimately the British Empire) was the killing of Aaron Sherritt by Joe Byrne.
Both of these guys were bushrangers growing up in Woolshed.
The rationale for the killing was that Byrne suspected Sherritt of spying for the police.
Ned Kelly and his band of bushrangers were controversial folk heroes representing the last of the wild Victorian bushlands.
In that vain, he was seen as sort of a revolutionary Australian Robin Hood or Che Guevara figure as they’ve been glorified in the arts to this day.
Our Visits to Woolshed Falls
We’ve made a couple of visits to the Woolshed Falls, and they yielded very different experiences.
The first visit took place in November 2006 when we witnessed for the first time the adverse effect of the Great Australian Drought that dominated that decade.
Even though the waterfall was flowing at the time, Spring Creek’s low flow left much to be desired.
I made a return visit in November 2017 and Spring Creek (or Reids Creek) was flowing much better, which you can see in the photo at the top of this page.
I suspect that this state of the waterfall would be average flow in a non-drought year although that visit was said to have taken place after an unusually dry and warm Winter and Spring.
The most obvious way to experience the falls was from an overlook at the end of the McFeeters Rd (see directions below).
I was also able to do a short walk from the main car park to the top of the lowermost drop of Woolshed Falls.
That said, I had to be careful not to get too dangerously close to the slippery surface by the dropoffs and the creek itself.
There were other historic walks and hikes along the creek, but they were closed during my visit, and thus I can’t say anything more about them.
Authorities
Woolshed Falls resides in Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park near Beechworth, Victoria. It is administered by Parks Victoria. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
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