Upper Stoney Creek Falls - Douglas / Smiths Track

Hike to Upper Stoney Creek Falls via the Douglas and Smiths Track




On a nearly cloud free day, a group of paddlers set off for a different kind of adventure. Basically we were off on a hike in search of an elusive set of waterfalls which existed on Stoney Creek high above the tourist falls, which you see in every tourist brochure.

The plan was to do a circuit of Stoney Creek Gorge with the lunch being at this most beautiful vista. The author had being here once before but had come up from below via the railway track. This access was no longer viable unfortunately.

The group existed of various levels of hiking experience, mainly with Quirky who was in the elite Bushwalking Club, Pete who relived his expertise of a long ago Scouts experience, the author whom hiking experience stretches back a few years to 2004, and Tarzan, Laggy, and Dano who will try anything.... as seen previously in paddling experiences.

The intrepid group left early on the saturday morning to hopefully get rid of most of the humidity of climbing through tropical rainforest. To access the Douglas and Smiths Track, you need to take a left at the Kamerunga Villas turnoff before crossing the Barron River bridge , and continue through the multitude of roundabouts to as far as you can go.

Once well into the Douglas Track, you finally reach the ridge over-looking our familiar Lake Placid playground after about 45 minutes to an hour. You head out on the ridge to the turnoff to Glacier Rock to suffer another 30 minute climb. However , on this track the vistas are superb.


Once getting to the lookout of Glacier Rock, the group tends to be tankful for the rest. A bit of sight-seeing is to be done, including the secondary lookout of which it looks over to the target of Stoney Creek falls.












Another bout of walking for about an hour, will get you to the Stoney Creek Crossing, which basking in the cool of the tropical rainforest setting of the flowing creek, adds refreshment and rest to the weary traveller.

It is here that there can be a choice to continue on for about 15 minutes....or rock-hop down the creek to the destination. Due to prior knowledge, it was agreed to press on and access the area from a different point.



Once getting to the bluff where the Smith's track travels along the southern ridge, there is a small pathway leading down to a rocky outcrop which offers amzing viewpoints of the Gorge, the famous railway bridge, and on the other side, sheer drops leading into the target pool of the trip.










It must be said at this point that ropes must be taken to traverse the travel down the precarious slope. The decision was made that we could not get to the bottom pool due to it being too dangerous. Hence the decision was to take our lunch at the top of the falls and bask and swim in the beautiful setting. The water was actually ice cold and felt like an athlete's ice bath. It actually did the same thing as an ice bath in that it refreshed and rejuvenated the tired aching muscles and limbs.










After lunch and a rest, the intrepid travellers again geared up for the hike back. However, looking from Glacier Rock, the view of the ridge was unlike anything we expected. From the turnoff to the creek, Smiths actually took a long two kilometres on a steady incline of which there was much complaining eventually from the author.






On the way up over the Smith's track, it again offered amazing vistas showing Glacier Rock from a different view.



Muscles tiring, limbs aching, the hiker actually looks forward to reaching the pinnacle of the hiking track from hell. Unbeknown to the hiker....worse is yet to come.





Smiths Track is an amazing trail in that the descent covers a 1 kilometre descent at an amzing 45 degrees at least. Together with loose gravel, and casuarina seeds acting as mongrel ball-bearings, it makes the descent very heavy and slow-going.

After about a good hour of torture, you eventually arrive at the trailhead of the Smith's track...only to face another 500 metres of undulating bitumen to be able to come back and kiss your vehicle vowing that you will never leave your car behind again !

Even for the muscle torture for the next few days (half the group actually kayaked the Barron Gorge the day after)....travelling around the Stoney Creek gorge was a rewarding experience. Well....enough to know to avoid the Smith's track in future anyways....

Remember, when you hike through the magnificent trails of this great country, always leave only footprints, and take nothing out except for photographs and memories.

Blue Skies

Flounder