Erskine Falls Walk

Erskine Falls Walk is a steep out-and-back from Erskine Falls Car Park to the upper and lower lookouts in Great Otway National Park. The complete walk is 700 metres return; allow about 30 minutes. It’s a good stop if you want a proper waterfall view without taking half a day, but the short distance hides a lot of stairs. For a quicker look, the upper lookout is 300 metres return and takes about 15 minutes.

The track drops from the car park through tall tree ferns on a steep stepped path. The upper lookout looks down over the falls; continue farther down the stairs for a closer view from the lower lookout. You return the same way, so the climb back is the hard part. Descriptions count the steps differently, but expect several hundred on the full walk.

Erskine Falls drops about 30 metres into a deep pool in a fern-filled gully. The upper lookout gives you the whole cascade framed by tree ferns; the lower platform brings you closer to the dark rock ledges. In drier weather the water can thin to a curtain, with moss showing on the rock. For a photo, the upper viewpoint takes in the full drop and the green gully in one frame.

The 7.5 km one-way Erskine Falls to Lorne walk is a separate, difficult river hike, not part of this lookout walk. It crosses the river several times, passes Straw Falls and Splitter Falls, and goes by a natural amphitheatre once used for church services before Lorne’s first church was built in 1875. Plan a car shuttle, and don’t take that route when the river is high.

The car park is at the end of Erskine Falls Road, about 10 km northwest of Lorne; public toilets are beside the lot. Dogs aren’t permitted in Great Otway National Park, except assistance dogs.