Picture this: you’re swimming in clear emerald water beneath majestic sandstone mountains on one side and there’s a vast white sand beach on the other. It’s a hot summer’s day and you have this entire paradise all to yourself. That’s Yalwal Creek. A wild and special place in a remote corner of Morton National Park.
The walk to get there is no longer maintained, but it’s not overly challenging.
Here’s what to expect.
The walk to Yalwal Creek
The stats
Distance: 6.2km return
Elevation gain: 220m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: Grassy Gully Road, Morton NP
Summary: The walk to the creek used to be on a well worn track, but as it’s no longer maintained the bush is starting to reclaim it. Despite this, it’s still reasonably easy to follow. The conditions are reasonable for the most part and the descent is rarely steep.
There are one or two short sections of loose soil and stones, but never in a precarious place. Once at the creek, you need to follow the stony beach downstream and you have to cross the creek at least once (depending on how far you go). During normal flow this is an easy ankle deep crossing. Don’t cross if in flood.
The path is now overgrown and indistinct in several places, so you’ll need to be comfortable with off track walking and some route finding.
Though the walk is not overly challenging, this is a remote part of the national park and there is no phone signal.
Were you to run into any difficulties it’s highly unlikely you would come across anyone for help. It is wise to carry a PLB and we personally wouldn’t walk here without one.
The access road
I normally leave driving instructions to the end of the post, but it’s worth noting that unless you are happy walking for 2.7km each way along an undulating fire trail, you will need a 4WD/AWD to reach the trailhead. That’s because the road is unsealed and goes up and down a few hills.
It’s in good condition and most people will not need to engage 4WD if conditions remain the same, but you need a bit of clearance and oomph. I would not drive this road when wet.
It’s only the last 2.7km which are on a less well maintained gravel road. Before this you’ll have 9.1km of gravel road, but it’s in excellent condition and suitable for any car at time of writing (though it’s windy and single track in places).
There is a car park at the end of this section, so if you were extremely keen and only have a 2WD car you could park here and walk the road, however, it’s a slog and it’s fully exposed to the sun.
The coordinates for the final car park with 4WD/AWD access are -34.8365564, 150.3970432 and the 2WD access is at -34.8499026, 150.4120184.
Starting the trail
From the closest car park at the coordinates mentioned above, you step over the wire barrier and pass the national park’s walking track sign. After 50m you’ll come to a clearing and head right, over the log.
At first the path is very obvious and it is at other points too, but there are more indistinct sections inbetween.
Follow the narrow dirt track through the bush until the 275m mark. Here you’ll find a wire cord on the right and climb over it.
Roughly 75m later you want to keep left, slightly higher than you have been to avoid some treefall. Roughly 50m later, or 400m into the trail it bears left.
Approximately 180m later or 580m into the trail you’ll bear right and cross the tiny creek (you can just step over it).
The narrow path continues and is relatively bushy until the 1km mark when it becomes both more open and much easier to follow.
Descending to the river
At the 1.3km mark it’s quite easy to lose the path. You want to climb over the small rocks you can see ahead of you and the track continues on the other side, but it’s not visible before climbing the rocks.
The path now begins to head more noticeably downhill. A few steps here and there are on loose soil or stones, but I ran down these tiny bits which I always find easier.
At the 1.45km mark or 145m after climbing over the rocks, the path bears right. Roughly 100m later you’ll come to some boulders, climb up onto these and you’ll see a small cairn indicating the path is over top of the boulders.
The path is easy to follow as it continues descending for another 350m before it becomes indistinct again. A few steps later you will see the path more clearly again as it leads downhill.
Just beyond this you’ll see another small cairn.
The path is to the left, heading more steeply downhill. This short section is loose, but not terrible to get down and I do hate loose steep descents.
After 100m it flattens and heads into thicker bush to the left. Roughly 50m into the bush section there’s a large tree down over the track, but you can crawl under it without too much hassle.
There’s a bit of an eroded gully beyond this, but it’s only 100m until you hit the stony beach.
Exploring the creek
Once you reach the stony beach you can choose to explore up or downstream. We’ve not yet been upstream so can only comment on what you’ll find downstream. And that’s some sensational scenery and swimming holes.
Head right, following the creek downstream along the stony riverbank.
After 300m you’ll cross a small muddy section and then if you want to keep dry boots, you’ll need to briefly head up into the bush.
However, as you need to cross the creek shortly after anyway, I’d just slosh through the shallows here, especially as the riverbank is a bit eroded.
After you’ve been walking along the stony beach for 500ish metres you’ll need to cross the creek.
There are small rapids, but in times of normal flow this is an ankle deep very easy crossing and the rocks underfoot were not slippery, but always take care just incase you find an anomaly.
The first and best pool in my opinion is just beyond this crossing.
The Yalwal Creek swimming holes
You’ll know the swimming hole when you see it, but for reference the coordinates are -34.8294629, 150.3883280.
It’s a long stretch of deep water under the dramatic sandstone cliffs. The water is a stunning shade of emerald and it’s backed by a vast white sand beach.
If you’re visiting in summer it may not be quite as refreshing as you’d hoped as the water is warm, but that’s really its only fault. It really is spectacular! And along most of its length the bottom is sandy so accessing the water is easy.
It’s an idyllic spot which feels a million miles away from civilisation.
You could easily stop here and be very happy, though if you plan to spend any length of time you might want to bring something to shade yourself with as it’s very exposed.
There’s another lovely swimming spot which fell into shade in the early afternoon which was also a glorious place to swim. You’ll need to cross the creek again to access this one but as with the first crossing, it’s easy.
It’s a few hundred metres further on from pool one at these coordinates: -34.828133, 150.383807.
It’s smaller and less grand than the first pool, but still absolutely beautiful and it’s nice to be able to swim in the shade (in the afternoon at least). However, when accessing this one beware of sinking sand.
The area surrounding the pool has some sections of sinking sand, which to our eyes was indistinguishable from the normal sand.
Joe got a bit of a shock when he went from ankle deep sand to up to his waist by taking just one step to the left! It’s not the kind that sucks you in and won’t release you, but it’s a bit of a shock if it happens!
I luckily didn’t encounter any of the sinking sand and found accessing the pool easy. It’s sandy up to and inside the pool and the water is warm and clear.
Continuing further
You can continue exploring further downstream, we went for another few hundred metres to the confluence with the Shoalhaven River. It’s another lovely spot, but we preferred pool one and chose not to go any further so we could spend more time there.
You might notice a road inbetween pool two and the confluence with the Shoalhaven River. However, this leads to private property and as such unfortunately cannot be used, even by walkers as far as we are aware.
You’ll need to retrace your steps back the same way when you’re ready to leave the area.
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.
Getting to the trailhead for Yalwal Creek
The trail to the creek is located in Morton National Park and is accessed via a gravel road as mentioned above. The nearest big town is Nowra, roughly 31km and a 45 minute drive away. The road is windy and slow towards the end which is why the time needed seems very long.
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