Baroon Pocket Dam to Kondalilla Falls Return

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I had done all the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk except the section from Baroon Pocket Dam to Kondalilla Falls. A few weeks ago, I finally got to go back and complete that section.





A group from my bushwalking club planned to drive up from Brisbane to Baroon Pocket Dam, then walk to Kondalilla Falls and back to the dam to collect our cars and return home.



I almost got to walk that section years ago, but after getting lost on my first trip and doing 30 kilometres the day before, I pulled out and went shopping instead. On that trip, I did meet up with the others at a beautiful restaurant at Baroon Pocket Dam at Secrets on the Lake. I wrote about that adventure here https://www.weekendnotes.com/sunshine-coast-hinterland-great-walk/

I had been back several times since that fateful trip and done all the other sections of the walk, including camping for one to two nights.


The 58 kilometre Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk is 90 kilometres north of Brisbane in the Blackall Range. It takes about 4 days to complete the whole walk but it is possible to do sections of the walk as day walks or short 1 or 2 day overnight walks. The whole walk is well-signposted and is shaped like a P.



We set off from the carpark at Baroon Pocket Dam. The track was well signposted with clearly defined tracks. After a couple of kilometres, we reached the Obi Obi lookout overlooking Obi Obi Creek. I’d never done the creek walk/swim but would be interested to do it one day, although one of my fellow bushwalkers almost drowned there once when he got his foot caught in some rocks with water rushing over his head. Luckily some other strong men arrived and managed to help pull him out.


It was a beautiful walk through the forest, strangler figs and grass trees with occasional creek views. After about an hour we arrived at Flat Rock, where we stopped for a short break and snack.

Flat Rock
We kept walking and arrived at Kondalilla Falls, a distance of around 10 kilometres. We walked down to the bottom of the falls and then up and around to the swimming hole which was very popular with people swimming. There was an interesting-looking cave above the Falls.




Kondalilla means “rushing waters” in the local Aboriginal language. The beautiful Falls drop 90m. A lot of locals and tourists love to visit and swim in the rock pools above the falls. The Falls were originally part of William Skene’s selection and in 1893 they were known as Skene’s Falls. He discovered the area on his property while searching for lost cattle.



We didn’t go for a swim and wanted to get away from the crowds. After a short rest, we headed off again back to Flat Rock for lunch.



Up to this point, I thought the walk was fairly easy. Maybe I was getting tired by then, but I found the part after lunch got harder. There seemed to be lots of long hills that kept going up and up. I was pleased when we finally reached the car park after our 22 kilometre hike.


We did meet some walkers doing the whole Great Walk carrying large packs so I was pleased we were just doing a day walk. We also met a young couple heading the wrong way. Luckily they asked us which way to get back to the swimming hole as they had taken a wrong turn and were on their way accidently to Baroon Pocket Dam. They weren’t carrying any water so would have had a long dry walk.



We also met people who had arranged to be picked up at the end of one way so they didn’t have to do the whole return walk like we did, so this is possible if you have a relative or friend to help you out.



I have read leeches on this walk have attacked people, but we didn’t get any on our walk. They would be around in wet weather. We stopped at a couple of the lookouts on the return walk where there were some great views.

The whole return walk takes around 5 hours. I really enjoyed the walk and was happy to finally complete all the sections of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk.



Click here for a map.

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#walks
#nature