Flea Creek is magical, with crystal clear swimming holes, endless cascades and towering rock walls; each view felt a little more captivating than the last. It’s a jaw dropping stretch of river, which you’d think would be celebrated as the very best swimming area close to Canberra, yet it remains a relative unknown.
I can’t remember a time when our expectations have been as far exceeded as they were at Flea Creek. Whilst there is a campground along the creek, the most spectacular swimming holes are a few hundred metres away, off track, which keeps them perfectly secluded. We came expecting to spend an hour or so by the water, but ended up staying all afternoon and had to tear ourselves away in the end.
Here’s how to find the best swimming holes at Flea Creek.
The walk to the Flea Creek swimming holes
The stats
Distance: 300m each way
Elevation gain: Flat
Difficulty: Easy, but involves rock hopping
Trailhead: Flea Creek Picnic Area
Summary: The first few minutes of the walk are on track, but after that there isn’t a proper trail. Reaching the first deep swimming hole is easy, with just one tiny rocky patch.
To continue up the river involves rock hopping and is most easily done with a mix of rock hopping and wading. Wet feet are a guarantee, but you don’t need to get wetter than that if you are happy to scramble over some extra rocks.
The trail
From the Flea Creek Picnic Area car park you cross the little metal bridge and head straight through the picnic area.
On the way back we saw four Red necked wallabies here, so hopefully you get lucky too. From the picnic area you will reach a stunning, but very shallow part of the river.
The forested mountain provides a gorgeous backdrop and the water is crystal clear. There’s room to sit in the water, but that’s about it, so it’s more somewhere to cool off on a hot day than it is a swimming spot.
Heading left from the picnic area you’ll follow a worn dirt path for a few metres, then there’s a very short stony section beside the water’s edge before you hit the worn dirt track again.
Just beyond this there is a slightly deeper stretch of river, with sandy/dirt access to the water.
It’s right beside a giant boulder and very picturesque. This would work nicely if you want to laze around, but in a bit more water than there is at the picnic area.
The first deep pool
A little beyond the boulder pool, 100m from the picnic area, you’ll come to the best swimming spot when it comes to depth and space for a proper swim.
The water is emerald green and clear all the way through to the bottom.
There are cliffs and mountains in both directions and a pretty cascade at one end. It is utterly spectacular and we couldn’t believe that it’s not more well known. It’s easily my favourite swim spot near Canberra and the kind of place that’s very hard to leave!
I scrambled down the large rocks beside the water, which is easy on the way in as you can sit on the middle tier and then slide off into the water. It’s a touch slippery getting out here, so if you don’t have someone to lend a hand you might want to get out to the left or right, where there are more rocks and less of a leg stretch needed.
Once inside the pool there is some current from the cascades, but in times of normal flow, plenty of room to swim outside of it and it wasn’t overly strong.
I could still swim directly up the current if I put a little effort in. There are some large boulders in the middle of the pool, but as the water is so clear they are easily avoided and you can swim up and down a long interrupted channel of water on the left side of the pool (when looking upstream).
Continuing up river
Once you leave the main pool there is no longer a worn path and it’s rock hopping, wading, or swimming all the way. We explored for a further 100m up river and for me, hopping in and out of the water, it was pretty easy.
Start from the true left of the river (the northern bank/the other side to where you started) and begin heading upstream. I swam across the emerald pool, but you can cross with dry boots a little further back, where the large boulders are.
The rocks were generally quite grippy and I chose a mix of using the riverbanks and wading through the water, using the larger rocks as stepping stones where possible.
Whilst you can swim small sections, there are too many rocks and boulders in the water to swim all the way up unfortunately.
If you want to keep dry, the rock hopping is a bit more challenging and you’re not going to make it up with dry boots, so it’s best to go barefoot or succumb to wet shoes.
Joe took the dry route which involved staying on the true left of the creek until the bank ran out, then you will need to switch to the true right (southern bank).
If you’re going to swim anyway, you may as well just head up in your swimmers because there are many pools along the way.
The first couple are shallow, but there’s a particularly lovely one with a cascade and steep cliff wall behind it, which is great for lazing around in. The water colour is no longer emerald, but a sort of golden green.
I can’t think of another water colour like it in the ACT or NSW, it really adds wow factor to an already beautiful scene.
The clarity is such that Joe came back after reccying the creek and said there was nowhere to swim further upstream because it was all too shallow.
But when it came to it, three pools were swimmable, it just didn’t look like it from outside the water because it was so clear that you could see all the boulders underneath.
The gorge pools
Once you pass some shallow cascade pools you’ll come to a stretch of river beside a large cliff wall, there’s walls on both sides, so it feels a little like a gorge.
The far right side of the pool is swimmable top to bottom. There are boulders to the left, but you can avoid them easily. I feel like I am running out of superlatives at this point, but let’s just say it’s another sensational spot.
Beyond this, after some rock hopping you’ll reach another pool, this time the boulder in the middle of the water is ginormous.
So much so that you can lay on it, in the middle of the pool, with just enough water covering you that it will keep you cool on the hottest of days.
You can swim a narrow channel to the right of the boulder, but it’s very small, not much of a swim, but fun because it’s beneath another giant rock wall.
From here you can continue boulder hopping in the water to the final pool.
The final waterfall pool
There are two waterfalls at the final point of the river we explored. The one on the right was really pumping on our visit, it was small, but very powerful.
The second is to the left and flows directly through a boulder cavern, you can’t see it all until you’re in the pool itself.
The current in this area is much stronger than anywhere else on the river and you need to take care, particularly as there are many large boulders you could knock into. Some people may prefer just watching the falls from the boulders.
The pool beside the boulder falls is only around chest height. The one to the right of it is deep, but again, subject to the current coming from the powerful cascade. It’s a dramatic grand finale and feels truly wild.
There may be more pools further up, but the rock walls got higher and we were happy with what we’d already seen.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the national park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
Flea Creek Campground
If you’re as taken with the area as we were, you can camp nearby at the Flea Creek Campground. It’s a couple of hundred metres away from the picnic area and located along a shallow part of the creek. It’s lovely and shady due to the big trees and a very quiet and peaceful place to relax (though it may get busy in the school holidays).
The Flea Creek access road
Flea Creek is located in the Brindabella National Park, the drive takes around one hour from Canberra. Just before you reach the Gentle Annie Trail you will cross over the ACT/NSW border.
Accessing the Flea Creek Campground and swimming area requires a 4WD due to the very steep unsealed road (there is a signpost saying 4WD only).
There is 13.4km of gravel road in total, with the first 10km being suitable for any vehicle. The final 3.5km is on the Gentle Annie Track and though the surface of the road is quite good, it’s very steep in parts and right on the edge of a large drop.
It’s one of the most scenic drives in the area, with views of a dramatic mountain range, not dissimilar to the Blue Mountains. it makes the drive feel like part of the adventure, rather than simply a commute from Canberra.
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