The Bundewallah Waterfall is tucked away in a little visited reserve just outside of Berry. It’s a beautiful series of cascades that flow through a pretty patch of rainforest. A giant strangler fig stands as sentinel over the lower falls and it feels more like a scene from Tropical North Queensland than it does the South Coast!
The walk to reach the majority of the cascades is on a decent track, however, the most impressive part of the falls is off track and requires a slippery scramble to reach. The easier access part of the falls and rainforest are gorgeous, so you don’t have to be up for the scramble to make a visit here worthwhile.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Bundewallah Reserve walking track.
The Bundewallah Reserve walking track
The stats
Distance: 2.3km return
Elevation gain: 180m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
Summary: The walk to the falls is mainly uphill on the way, though the track is in decent condition which makes the climb easier. Reaching the majority of the cascades is straightforward, though the one that feels like a small canyon grotto is not.
This involves a slippery off track scramble which should be avoided in wet weather. However, as mentioned you don’t have to do this bit to still enjoy the walk.
The track is not signposted, but it’s easy to follow and we’ll detail exactly what to expect in the trail notes below.
Starting the trail
From the parking area (full details below) the trail heads along the little bush track on the opposite side of the road. It has a long forgotten air and a barbed wire fence runs along one side of the path. Not the most enticing start to a walk, but first impressions can be deceiving.
After following the flat track for a couple of minutes you’ll come to the creek. You have to climb down a little rocky patch, but it’s just two steps and easy enough.
Depending on water levels, you will then have two tiny creek crossings. Even after plenty of rain when we visited these crossings were easy as there were rocks to use as stepping stones. I imagine in drier times there probably isn’t very much water here at all.
Through the bush
The trail then heads into the bush on a series of wooden steps. Whilst the path is not maintained in the way it would be on a standard national park track, it was still in good condition and easy to follow.
The stairs - though fairly relentless at first - are not slippery and the bush offers shade if you’re walking in the warmer months.
There are little flat sections but the majority of the next 500m are uphill. The stairs will then end and you’ll walk on a grassy track more gently uphill for a further 150m.
There’s a bench seat here (650m into the walk), but the track continues heading uphill on the worn grassy path you’ll see just before reaching the bench.
After another 100m you reach the rainforest and this is where the track starts to get much more beautiful.
Into the rainforest
As the trail enters the rainforest you’re greeted by some gorgeous tree ferns and lots of lush foliage which feels completely different to the dry bush you’ve just walked through.
At the 1km mark you’ll reach some stairs leading downhill and will see the giant strangler fig on your left. It’s majestic and towers above the forest floor with its gnarled roots and twisted vines.
To the right of the path beside the tree is the route down to the lower falls, a really beautiful part of the creek. It does require walking around 20m off trail down the riverbank.
When dry it wasn’t slippery, but there is some loose soil to be mindful of.
Once you’re at the bottom you’ll be standing in front a multi tiered cascade backed by tall trees which blocked out all sunlight, even on the brightest of days.
The Bundewallah Waterfall
From these first cascades you can head back onto the main trail and follow it for a few minutes uphill which will take you to two more sets of cascades.
Each is much closer to the trail and doesn’t require any scrambling to reach. The first set has three small cascades which flow into a small pool surrounded by mossy boulders. It’s a very pretty spot.
The second is only a two minute walk further up the main trail and is a small solitary cascade, but very atmospheric nonetheless.
You can cross over the creek here and it looks like a trail continues beyond, however, within a few seconds you’ll reach a private property sign.
The heart shaped canyon pool
The final part of the falls cannot be seen from the main track and is more of an endeavour to reach. It is a slippery eroded scramble, where real care must be taken.
We don’t recommend going to this spot unless you are comfortable with steep slopes that have little grip. A lot of the trail down is easiest spent low to the ground using the trees, roots and rocks as handholds where possible!
There is no set route, but you need to aim for these coordinates: -34.7437539, 150.6596568. From the first falls (lower falls) you arrived at, you can hop across the creek (there are rocks to use as stepping stones) to the far bank and slope beyond.
From here you’ll go uphill and away from the creek for a short distance, before proceeding downhill. Most of the time you won’t be able to see the creek, there are some faint tracks you can follow, but they often disappear.
The route heads away from the creek and curves around some big rocks before heading down to the grotto. It isn’t very long (about 100ish metres in total), so retrace your steps if you find yourself going for a lot longer.
The slippery path turns into slippery rock just before you arrive back at the creek. To complicate things more, a tree has fallen down into the canyon, so you’ll need to navigate around it to get to the pool.
This part of the waterfall has real canyon vibes and is the most exciting part of the falls. The water cascades into a heart shaped grotto, an unexpected sight in this little visited reserve in Berry! The downside is that access is tricky and definitely won’t be for everyone.
When you’re ready to leave the falls you retrace your steps along the main path. There is one tiny uphill section at the beginning and then it’s mainly downhill from there, so it’s a quick easy stroll back to the parking area.
Where to park for the Bundewallah Waterfall walk
The walking track is located on Bundewallah Road, just 5km and an eight minute drive from Berry. There is no car park for the reserve, but there are a couple of laybys you can use. We parked at the closest one, which you can find at these coordinates: -34.7499743, 150.6557746.
It’s a residential area, so please only park in the laybys and don’t block the road - this is by no means a popular walk, so you should have no trouble snagging a layby.
The trail begins on the opposite side of the road and you’ll see a little signpost slightly setback on the path.
Watch out for leeches!
There are leeches present on this track, which is not uncommon on rainforest walks in NSW, but something to be mindful of. We always give ourselves and our boots and socks a good spray before setting out. I personally got one on the outside of my boot and knocked it off easily and didn’t get any others on the whole walk, Joe didn’t get any at all.
However, I wouldn’t walk this trail on a wet day or after many days of rain when the leeches can really come out in force. We visited after quite a dry period which was broken by a day’s very heavy rain. This seemed to work well as the creek was flowing nicely but the leeches were not a problem.
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