Lorne Waterfall Circuit Trail

For cascading waterfalls, rainforest walks and spectacular swimming spots head to the coastal town of Lorne, the waterfall capital of the Great Otway National Park and discover the Lorne Waterfall Circuit Trail. A 17 mi looped trail that starts and ends at the Sheoak Falls Car Park in the Great Otway National Park, Victoria, and is graded as Medium difficulty. (For information on how we grade trails, please click here.) This fairly challenging walking route will be an undulating adventure visiting eight waterfalls: Sheoak Falls, Swallow Cave Falls, Phantom Falls, Henderson Falls, Won Wondah Falls, Lower Kalimna Falls, Upper Kalimna Falls and Cumberland Falls. And there’s an opportunity to take a spur trail and return via Castle Rock, but this adds 1.5km to your loop. This immersive, breathtaking hiking route takes on bushland, river crossings and rugged trail, but it also delivers majestic coastal vistas; with a total elevation gain of 3128 ft it’s tough but worth every muddy step. The full circuit may be too far or too challenging for young explorers, but there are many waterfall trails leading from the Sheoak Falls Car Park making it possible to customise your own family-friendly day out to suit all ages and abilities. This trail can be completed in 1 day but many like to split it over 2 days, staying at one of the many campgrounds in the area for an extended adventure and more time to explore. If you do plan to stay, you might consider altering your start point for the circuit to coincide with your camping location. The closest to the waterfall is the basic Sharps Campground which has no facilities and works on a first-come, first served basis, so arrives early if you wish to grab one of the six sites. (Caution is advised on trail times as this depends on multiple variables. For more info, click here.) Although this trail is not wheelchair friendly, there is an all-terrain wheelchair, known as the ‘TrailRider’ available in nearby Colac Otway Shire and Surf Coast Shire to visitors with mobility difficulties. Please contact the respective shires for availability and information. Dogs are not permitted in the national park for the protection and conservation of the park and its wildlife.