Booloumba Creek walk
Rugged landscapes, fast-flowing mountain creeks, waterfalls, cascades and impressive forests are all part of a new walk in the Conondale Ranges, several kilometres south of Kenilworth in the scenic Mary Valley.
A great place to stop for a swim on Booloumba creek. Image: Arkin Mackay. stoppress.com.au
The 10 kilometre walk from Booloumba Campsite 3 up to the impressive Booloumba Falls will eventually form the first day of a four- day walking trail, the Conondale Range Great Walk, with walker-accessed camping areas, but this section, constructed last year and opened Christmas Eve, can easily be tackled by itself.
Given the considerable difference in altitude between the Booloumba camp grounds and Booloumba Falls, the recommendation is to start the walk at the Booloumba Falls carpark which means that the bulk of the walk is downhill. Unless planning to walk both ways, it does require a car shuffle. Drive all walkers up to the Booloumba Falls carpark making sure to leave a car down near Campground 3 for later use. The drive up to the carpark is dry weather only, and has some steep patches.
From the carpark, take the walk to Booloumba Falls, meandering along the creek as it tumbles its way towards a junction with Peter’s Creek, the location of the falls and the stunning rock formation, the Breadknife.
A section of the new Booloumba Creek walking track. Image: Arkin Mackay. stoppress.com.au
After 1.3 kilometres, the new walk heads off to the right and the walk to the falls and Breadknife is an extra kilometre (500m each way) but well worth the trouble. In summer the pool at the base of the falls is a great place to swim and the views over the Breadknife and Boooloumba Gorge are stunning all year round.
The sides of the Booloumba Gorge are very steep so the new walk heads eastwards through higher country. It takes about 3.4 kilometres to wind its way down to the base of the gorge. The first kilometre or so is relatively straight forward (with one particularly beautiful creek crossing) before it gives way to much steeper sections where the walker will probably commend himself for the decision to walk down hill rather than up.
Some of the slopes are quite steep and the track’s construction has made excellent use of the parallel cleavage planes of the local rock to craft some impressive stairs.
When the track reaches the creek, there’s a creek crossing (wet feet, slippery) and a good place for lunch and a swim.
The rest of the walk travels parallel to the northern bank of Booloumba Creek but travelling through a diversity of forest types, from groves of Piccabeen Palms to stands of giant Flooded Gums, with towering Red Cedars and even some rather incongruous Ironbarks. At one stage the track heads to higher country to the base of a tall emergent Bunya Pine. This is the more sedate part of the walk, winding downstream towards the campgrounds.
A sign-posted side-track takes the walker back across the creek (wet feet again) towards Campsite 3 while the track continues on to the Day Use Area 2.
It is suggested that (for experienced walkers) the 18 kilometre round trip up to the falls and back would take six hours. We found the walking part of our one-way trip took us five hours at a very leisurely pace with plenty of stops but be sure to allow time for the initial drive up and the car retrieval trip at the end.
This new walk requires a reasonable level of fitness if done downhill and considerably more if done uphill. It’s a wonderful addition to the existing walks in the Conondales and a great preview of the forthcoming great walk.
(Booloumba Creek campgrounds are accessed from the Kenilworth –Maleny road, seven kilometres south of Kenilworth. The road (a further 6 kilometres) involves two creek crossings which are labeled “4WD only” but can be crossed cautiously by two wheel drive vehicles with high clearance if the water level is sufficiently low.)
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