Parking
Use Sabine Falls Picnic Area on Sunnyside Road; the track starts at the picnic ground. The signed approach comes from Skenes Creek–Forest Road.
Overview
About Sabine Falls Walk
Why go
- Cool temperate rainforest, sawmill traces and a three-part waterfall view
- A clear platform marks the walk’s destination
Heads up
- Steep steps and rocky creek crossings make the return climb demanding
- The falls remain several hundred metres from the platform
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Great Ocean Road map
Full mapElevation335–557 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
7 active Great Ocean Road alerts
- ClosureLorne-area walking trails closed after flood and storm damageSeveral walking trails near Lorne remain closed; do not enter closed tracks. - Phantom Falls Walk is temporarily closed because flood and storm damage affected the trail and structures.Official details
- ClosureWye Road closed after storm and flood damageWye Road is closed until further notice for road maintenance and repairs following storm and flood damage; do not use the road. Check current Great Otway National Park conditions before travelling.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Ocean Road Tour Guide
Your drive to Sabine Falls Walk, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Ocean Road. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Ocean Road audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Sabine Falls Inland Detour0:00 / 0:27
“You're approaching the Sunnyside Road turnoff for Sabine Falls, farther inland along a partly unsealed road.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Great Ocean Road Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Ringtail's Leafy Nest
- A Rosella Before the Red
- A Koala’s Leaf Budget
- A Gum Tree's Changing Bark
- 181 audio storiesacross Great Ocean Road’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Koala, Kangaroo, Little Penguin, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 109 trails, 99 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 Sabine Falls Walk
A steep waterfall walk through rainforestSabine Falls Walk is a 2.46-mile (3.
Sabine Falls Walk is a 2.46-mile (3.95-kilometre) out-and-back from Sabine Falls Picnic Area to a viewing platform above the falls. Allow about two to two and a half hours. The trail drops roughly 220 metres into the valley, then climbs back up the same way. It is a good pick if the rainforest walk matters as much as the waterfall: the cascades stay several hundred metres away across a thickly vegetated ravine.
From rainforest to the old mill siteThe opening stretch is a wide, relatively gradual path through cool temperate rainforest.
The opening stretch is a wide, relatively gradual path through cool temperate rainforest. Look for tree ferns and rock cuttings at the former Henry's Saw Mill site, roughly halfway along; the mill itself is gone. Fallen logs and fern fronds can make the natural track feel less tidy than a surfaced park path.
The steep part comes lateAfter the mill site, the route drops more sharply through two gullies on winding steps.
After the mill site, the route drops more sharply through two gullies on winding steps. It crosses two creeks on rocks before reaching the viewing platform. There is no handrail, and wet bark, moss and rock can be slippery. The return follows the same steps uphill, so save some energy for the climb out rather than treating the descent as the hard part.
A distant view of the fallsThe platform looks across the forested valley at three visible sections of Sabine Falls, with…
The platform looks across the forested valley at three visible sections of Sabine Falls, with the upper cascade the most striking. The dense vegetation partly screens the lower drop, and the platform is the end of the walk; this is not a route to the base. Binoculars help pick out the separate tiers. For a photo, frame the water through the surrounding tree ferns instead of trying to crop out the whole valley.
Starting point and rulesStart and finish at Sabine Falls Picnic Area on Sunnyside Road, reached via Skenes Creek–Forest…
Start and finish at Sabine Falls Picnic Area on Sunnyside Road, reached via Skenes Creek–Forest Road. Dogs are prohibited, as are fires, horses, camping and bicycles.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Great Ocean Road
900 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
358 sightingsKangarooMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
49 sightingsLittle PenguinMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
155 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
33 sightingsFur SealMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
59 sightingsRed-necked WallabyMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Ocean Road. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
