Turtle Falls
Turtle Falls
There’s something refreshing about a walk that doesn’t demand hours of your time or days of preparation. Only a few kilometres from a suburban street in Faulconbridge, you’ll find a clear pool and small waterfall. Surrounded by trees, it feels like stumbling across an oasis in the dry bushland around it. Whether you’re hiking solo or bringing the kids along, Turtle Falls is one of those places that makes the effort more than worthwhile.
Quick Details
Length: 4.7km
Elevation: 140m
Grade: Easy to Moderate
Best season: After rainfall
Suitable for kids: Yes
Starting the Trail
Waterfalls in the mid to lower Blue Mountains are some of our favourites. They may not be the tallest or the grandest, but they’re often some of the most beautiful. The trick is to visit after recent rain. Since we’d had a decent downpour this week, I picked a name on the map that sounded fun and headed off to Faulconbridge.
After parking, I set off along an old fire trail. The day was warm, and wildflowers lined each side of the track. Tyre marks in the mud showed someone had driven down the track recently. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’ve got a four-wheel drive — the track is pretty rough and narrow in places.
There were a few large puddles, but they were easy enough to skirt around. There are a few tracks that branch off to the left, but they don’t really go anywhere — most just loop back to the fire trail.
There’s one track that branches off to the right (although it may not be obvious unless you’re looking for it) that cuts down to the Peggy’s Pool track — another beautiful place, but for now we’ll leave that hike for another story.
As long as you stick to the main fire trail, you really can’t get lost. There are two places where the track forks, but will rejoin after a few metres. These are pretty obvious and you’ll be able to see the other end of them when you reach them.
This isn’t a busy trail, and I had it all to myself. Aside from following the name “Turtle Falls” on the map, I didn’t really know what to expect. Soon enough, my phone lost reception and it was just me, the sounds of the forest, and the excitement of what I might find at the end of the trail.
The track is in pretty good condition. The only rubbish I came across was a large ottoman (odd place to find one) and the rusted remains of an old car — although at this point, it’s basically a pile of rusted metal with no clear markings left. I wasn’t looking to add a tetanus shot to the day’s adventure, so I didn’t investigate too closely.
About 1.4km in, the fire trail comes to an end by looping back around itself like a roundabout. On the far side of the circle is a narrow path down the hill. It starts quite rocky and I wasn’t looking forward to the trip down the hill if it was all going to be like that. Thankfully it was only for a short section before levelling out and turning to a dirt bush track.
The narrower trail was still quite easy to follow as it wound down the hill. It was a little steep in places, but nothing that had me dreading the return walk. At one point, I lost the trail over a rock slab but quickly found it again — the trick is to turn back the way you came over the rock, like a switchback (or a U-turn), and you’ll find it again.
I could soon hear the sound of running water in the distance. The map showed the falls to be about 200m away at this point, so hearing the water was a good sign that the falls would be flowing well.
I reached the creek and found a small cascade with a couple of rockpools. It was pretty, but I couldn’t help thinking, Please tell me I didn’t walk all this way just for this. I looked around and through the trees a short way downstream I could see a large pool of water that was the most amazing blue-green colour in the sunlight, and a fern covered sandstone wall.
Turtle Falls
The last part of the track was a bit of a scramble. At the bottom I was left speechless at how pretty it was. The pool was quite full on my visit, so the water went right up to the trees surrounding it. There’s a bit of a sandy bank to leave bags and shoes and I wished the weather was warm enough for a swim, because the water looked perfect.
A sandstone wall lines one side of the pool, and when the sun came out from behind the clouds, the light reflected off the water and danced across the rock. There are a few large crevices in the stone that little adventurers would love to climb on.
Turtle Falls would make a great place for a family hike on a hot day and you could easily spend all afternoon relaxing here — maybe with a picnic.
The water was icy cold on my visit but the falls were flowing well and it was worth the few minutes of frozen toes to get my photos. Swimming will have to wait for next time though — as I'm also not looking to catch hypothermia on this hike.
As it was getting late in the afternoon I packed up to head back up the hill, and as I did I caught sight of something in the water — something large and round just beneath the surface. I took a closer look and realised it was a rock, but from a distance it looked exactly like a turtle rising for air. I wondered if that was where the falls got their name — or did I just think it looked like a turtle because of the name…
Getting There
Turtle Falls can be found in Faulconbridge. Parking is at the end of Shirlow Avenue, which should be in your vehicle navigation system or phone maps. There’s not a lot of space for cars, and please be aware that this is a residential street, so you may need to park a little further back from the trailhead.
Tips and Tricks
It’s best to visit Turtle Falls after recent rainfall, otherwise the falls may not be much more than a trickle, if anything at all.
There are no signs either at the trailhead or along the track. Take an offline map of the area with you.
This would be a great little hike and wild swimming adventure for kids — it also makes a very peaceful solo hike.