Haymans Creek Falls and Fairy Falls

Wednesday, 4 February 2015

Haymans Creek Falls and Fairy Falls

Wednesday 4th February 2015

Haymans Creek Falls

Haymans Creek Falls

My intention today was to walk to Haymans Creek Falls(That is what I have named them as they don't seem to have an official name.) and also Fairy Falls.
I drove the back way from Judbury over to Arve Road and then to Arve Spur 5 which is a couple of kms. on the Geeveston side of the Hartz turnoff. The first thing I noticed was an open forestry gate and fresh tyre tracks so I proceeded to drive up the road until I came across a couple of guys washing down an excavator. I had concerns about being locked in if they happened to leave so I asked them about the gate and they suggested I would be better off parking on the other side of it just in case as there was still logging going on up the road. I wholeheartedly agreed so I retraced back to the outside of the gate and parked. Of course this meant a longer walk but that didn't matter.
When I walked back to the guys I could hear machinery working further up the road which I wanted to use for the walk. Not wanting to upset anyone I opted for plan B. Mind you I did not have a plan B so figured I would take another track which happened to be Arve Spur 5/1. This appeared to be heading roughly in the right direction. When it ran out I crossed a logged coup and entered the forest.
I soon came across a small creek which was flowing quite well. This was Harveys Creek.

Harveys Creek

I carried on heading in the general direction of the falls. The going was not real easy with lots of large downed trees to negotiate and then I came across some thick scrub which thankfully did not last too long. After this I started heading down to the creek quite steeply and made the mistake of entering the creek about 250 metres downstream of the falls.

Interesting old tree

Rain forest type country

It was not easy ascending the creek and I had to use both banks at times to finally reach the base of the falls. The falls were quite spectacular with a strong flow. I stopped for a snack before heading up the side of the creek. As I climbed I could see that the falls extended much further uphill than I had realised when looking from the bottom. I could not get any clear photos from here so did not bother.

Haymans Creek Falls

Pool at base of falls - spot the Loch Ness Monster

Base of falls

It was really, really steep ascending out of the creek and I had to negotiate around vertical rock faces, but it soon flattened out somewhat. As I could not hear any machinery working I decided to head back the way I had originally planned to walk, guessing they were on lunch break. This worked out well as I finally reached the road. However, before this, I did come across a line of red and orange tapes which appeared to be indicating a track. I followed for a short distance, but when they appeared to be heading away from my plan, I abandoned that idea. The walk back to the car along the road was easy and all I spotted was a fully laden log truck. The two guys and their machinery were gone and the gate was still open. Better to be sure than sorry, I guess as there was definitely no way to drive around the gate if it was locked.
This was quite a good walk but the way I came back was much better with much less scrub.
Distance: 8.3 kms.
Time: 4'30"
Ascent: 320 metres
Click here to download GPX file.

Fairy Falls

Fairy Falls

Once back in the car I drove along Arve Road towards Geeveston and turned into Arve Spur 4. I drove along this for a couple of kms. and found a parking spot. The walk went uphill then downhill to the falls along a forestry track. It was easy walking and I soon found a spot to descend to the base of the falls. The falls were quite pretty with a delicate curtain of water flowing down the face. It was very green and mossy here. I simply retraced back to the car.
This was an easy short walk and the falls are worth a visit but only if there is a decent flow. I suspect that the falls may be accessed from Fairy Falls Road but I don't know about private property that way.
Distance: 2.3 kms.
Time: 50"
Ascent: 170 metres
Click here to download GPX file.