Walking in the Otways

C and I set out to walk to Phantom Falls – which I've never been to before and which I now know are certainly worth a visit. The track starts at the Allenvale car park, skirting “Allenvale” itself, which is a farm with orchards and horses, then joins an access track which seems to follow the water pipeline. The track runs parallel to the St George River, but is further up the side of the hill, so you get some good views looking down on the river. The falls are on the St George River, downstream from the Allen Resevoir. There was quite a lot of water coming over them, no doubt due to the good spring rains this year.

Having reached the falls, we saw that it was only 0.8 km to the “Cora Lynn carpark”, so off we set, down a track that first followed the St George River then crossed over to the Cora Lynn Creek a little upstream of its junction with the St George's River. The “car park” is not publicly accessible by vehicle (only on foot) so the name is a bit odd! Here there was a gate belonging to Barwon Water, blocking vehicles from proceeding further along the track to the Allen Reservoir. However, there was no restriction on walkers, so we set off up the steep slope, across the ridge back into the St George valley and reached the Allen Reservoir (seemingly the source of Lorne's water). We pondered following the track further, as the map indicated that it completed a circuit back to the falls, but decided instead to retrace our steps (probably a more pleasant route).

The forest is in great condition this year, after good spring rains, and the tracks, too, are good and clearly marked, with evidence of maintenance having been undertaken.

Some additional photos:

From the path as you walk past Allenvale

Looking down on St George River

Phantom Falls

Allen Reservoir