Parking
MacKenzie Falls car park on Wartook Road, beside the picnic area.
Overview
About Broken Falls and Cranages Lookouts
An easy out-and-back, 1.3 km return (about 0.8 mi) for the full walked distance covering both lookouts. All distances here are return figures from the MacKenzie Falls car park. Allow about half an hour if you stop at both viewpoints; an hour is realistic if you linger.
Why go
- Short route reaches two distinct lookouts
- Broken Falls spur is pram and wheelchair friendly
Heads up
- Cranages branch has steps or uneven footing
- The walk views the falls from platforms rather than the base
Yes, if you want real waterfall and gorge views without a stair descent. Do the Broken Falls platform if you have limited mobility or a pram, and add Cranages only if steps and uneven ground are fine for your group.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth it?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Grampians map
Full mapElevation384–439 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
5 active Grampians alerts
- ClosureBushfire-damaged walks and picnic area remain closedThe Fortress, Red Gum, Billimina, Chimney Pots and Brownings Loop walks, plus Mafeking Picnic Area, remain closed because of track or site damage from the 2024/25 summer bushfires.Official details
- ClosureMackenzie Falls precinct closed during constructionThe Mackenzie Falls (Migunang wirab) Precinct has no vehicle or visitor access during major construction works expected to finish by the end of 2026.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Grampians Tour Guide
Your drive to Broken Falls and Cranages Lookouts, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Grampians National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
MacKenzie Falls: Choose Your Walk0:00 / 1:04
“You're coming up on MacKenzie Falls, and this is a stop I'd make time for, even if a steep walk isn't for you. The falls flow all year, dropping over dark rock into a deep pool and sending spray through the gorge.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Grampians Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A New Way Through the Gorge
- Smiths Mill: Camp Among the Stringybarks
- A Bee That Shakes Out the Pollen
- The Diver on the Dead Branch
- 233 audio storiesacross Grampians’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Short-beaked Echidna, Powerful Owl, Wedge-tailed Eagle, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 81 trails, 62 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Broken Falls and Cranages Lookouts
The sequenceThe walk starts at the car-park access and follows designated paths to the Broken Falls Lookout…
The walk starts at the car-park access and follows designated paths to the Broken Falls Lookout boardwalk first. From there you return to the shared junction and continue on the connected lookout route to Cranages Lookout, roughly 260 m from the parking and picnic area. Paths from this junction also continue toward MacKenzie Falls and Fish Falls, which are separate walks and not part of this route.
What you seeBroken Falls gives sweeping views of the upper sections of MacKenzie Falls, looking across the…
Broken Falls gives sweeping views of the upper sections of MacKenzie Falls, looking across the drop rather than up at it from below. Both platforms look out over the MacKenzie River Gorge and its impressive rock formations, with stringybark forest through the surrounding country. It is a lot of gorge and waterfall scenery for very little effort.
Difficulty, surfaces and accessEasy overall.
Easy overall. The Broken Falls section is about 500 m return, roughly 10 minutes, on a wheelchair and pram friendly track with only a slight gradient. The Cranages branch is a short paved track but is not fully wheelchair accessible and can include steps or uneven footing. Expect a short descent from the car park toward the gorge and lookouts, and the matching climb back out. Nothing here compares to the more than 200 narrow steps on the steeper MacKenzie Falls base walk, which is about 2 km return and a genuinely harder alternative if you want the view from the bottom.
Hazards to take seriouslyWet or slippery surfaces and slippery rocks are a listed warning near the falls.
- Wet or slippery surfaces and slippery rocks are a listed warning near the falls.
- This is natural cliff and gorge terrain: stay on the designated path and viewing platforms.
- Trees and limbs may fall.
- Water and rock hazards around the falls are never a reason to step off the track.
Parking, access and rulesStart at the MacKenzie Falls car park on Wartook Road, which also serves the picnic area.
Start at the MacKenzie Falls car park on Wartook Road, which also serves the picnic area. The park is managed by Parks Victoria. Dogs are not permitted, including at Broken Falls, with assistance dogs the exception under the applicable entry requirements. Swimming is not permitted at nearby MacKenzie Falls because of unseen water hazards.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Grampians
157 sightingsShort-beaked EchidnaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
37 sightingsPowerful OwlMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
59 sightingsWedge-tailed EagleMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
24 sightingsEastern Brown SnakeMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
10 sightingsTiger SnakeMost seen around noonSighting map
29 sightingsRed-bellied Black SnakeMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Grampians. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
