Tea Tree Falls is a wild and beautiful waterfall that’s nicely off the beaten track. The easy walking track to get there offers the chance to explore a gorgeous part of New England National Park, without having to put much effort in at all. Walking through the mossy forest is an absolute delight and it reminded me so much of the South Island of New Zealand, which is pretty much the highest praise I can give.
Here’s what to expect on the trail, and how to find the falls - which are not signposted.
The Tea Tree Falls Walking Track
A note on trail conditions
Although we normally recommend visiting any waterfall in NSW after heavy rain (as so many of them can run dry), Tea Tree Falls may be the exception. Or at least you don’t want to visit after prolonged heavy rain, unless you are ready for a truly wet and wild time.
When I said it reminded us of New Zealand, it wasn’t just the stunning forest I was referring to. The weather also reminded me very much of walking the Milford Track, which is easily the wettest I’ve ever been in my life!
The trail becomes a river in very wet conditions and you will spend most of it ankle deep. The bridges also begin to flood and it can all happen very quickly as you’ll see in the photos!
The ‘trail’ to the waterfall also becomes heavily flooded. If you can, you ideally want to visit after some rain, but I wouldn’t recommend walking in heavy rain - having said that the forecast was dry for us, so it is very hard to predict!
What to expect from the Tea Tree Falls Trail
The trail stats
Distance: 2km each way
Elevation: 120m
Difficulty: Easy (unless the weather is bad)
The trail begins at the Thungutti campground and heads straight into a beautiful stretch of forest. Everything was incredibly green and lush and you’ll start to see some luminous green moss, which is just an indicator of what’s to come further along the track.
The path is narrow and would be easy walking in dry conditions - even in the wet it is easy it’s just heavily waterlogged.
The waterfall is actually quite early on in the track, and as mentioned not signposted.
There isn’t even really a distinct trail off to it, so when we first passed by, I was sure this wasn’t the waterfall the track was named after, assuming that would be much more obvious!
Luckily we realised on the way back and made a detour to see it.
You need to turn and walk through the bush down the river bank at the 500m mark. If you see the top of the falls from the main walking track you’ve gone too far.
The only real distinguishing feature is a broken log by the turn off. It’s 50m off the main track one way.
Depending on conditions it will either be fairly easy to get down or a bit of a slippery slide. If it’s been very wet you’ll have to walk ankle deep through the water towards the falls, if not it will be pretty straightforward.
It’s well worth the short bush bash though, because the falls are gorgeous. They have a really wild and remote feel to them, and what they lack in height, they make up for in power and width.
Once you’ve seen the waterfall, you head back onto the main trail to continue the walk. The first bit is a little overgrown in places but it’s easy to get by.
It gets prettier and prettier the further along you go. Parts of the track have been boardwalked, which is an absolute delight in the rain!
The narrow wooden planks take you through the most beautiful parts of the forest. The Antarctic beech trees are covered in dripping moss and the wild river thunders along beside you. It really does feel like a scene from Middle Earth.
The path is almost entirely flat and in drier conditions it’s the kind of walk we would have spent ages taking photos along. As it was we didn’t dare get the camera out and relied on a few iphone snaps that could never do this forest justice!
There are a couple of points at which the track crosses the river on wooden bridges. As we crossed on the way I remember looking at the water level and thinking that by the following day it would be flooded. Turns out that happened just 30 minutes later as when we passed back over it, it was nearly fully submerged!
The bridge at the start
The bridge 30 minutes later
As the water wasn’t flowing too strongly we could carefully cross, but it’s definitely another reason you don’t want to walk this trail in very heavy rain.
Once you’ve reached the end of the boardwalk you’ll come out of the forest at Toms Cabin. Technically speaking the trail continues over to the other side of the forest and starts heading uphill.
There is no point doing this part of the walk, unless you are planning to link up with another trail for a longer walk. Essentially this next part is just a link track and ends at a junction.
The better natural end is at Toms Cabin. It’s also the only part of the trail that involves a climb, in the rain it’s very slippery and definitely not worth it!
Overall, this is a wonderful, short easy trail, although we’d be lying if we said that we loved every minute of it in that monsoon! Unless it’s been very dry you’ll want to check your boots for leeches once you finish, I picked up two fat Tiger leeches, but to be honest I was expecting a lot more!
Essential information about the Tea Tree Falls Walk
Where to start the trail
The trail begins at the Thungutti campground, but you could also start at the car park by Toms Cabin. I would recommend Thungutti campground though, because then you save the most beautiful part of the walk for last.
The access road
The last 10km of the road into the park is unsealed. For the most part it’s ok but there are quite a few potholes and some corrugations.
It was probably in a worse state than usual when we visited though, as there had been such a long period of heavy rain. You don’t need a 4WD but you will want to take it slow in parts.
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