#9 of 46 sights in Great Otway
Sight · Great Otway National Park
A fern-framed 20-metre fall worth the uphill walk back.
Overview
Beauchamp Falls is a roughly 20-metre waterfall near Beech Forest in the Otway Ranges, reached by a 3 km return walk from the Beauchamp Falls Campground picnic area. This is a proper waterfall stop, not a roadside pull-off. If you like a close view after a forest walk, go; just leave time for the climb back. Allow one to two hours for the walk and a look around.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth the walk?Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Otway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Otway 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.
See the Great Otway audio tourRecorded for this place
Beauchamp Falls: Leave Time for the Climb“You're nearing the Beauchamp Falls campground, where the walk to the falls begins. Allow one to two hours for the three-kilometre return trip through mountain ash and thick ferns to a twenty-metre waterfall and its pool.”
Plays as you drive up to Beauchamp Falls in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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!!!!”
Guide
The path drops through mountain ash and thick ferns toward the falls, so the return is the harder half. Visitors repeatedly describe a steep climb with lots of steps, and wet ground can be slippery. The falls can carry more water after rain, which makes the payoff bigger but the footing less forgiving.
A viewing platform brings you close to the cascade and pool. Some visitors continue down more steps and rocks for a lower look; footing there can be slick, so don't push past what feels secure. For a photo, include the creek and boulders in the foreground to show the height of the drop.
Mountain ash and thick ferns line the walk, so the forest is part of the payoff, not just the way to the falls. Around the pool, boulders and fallen logs carry the creek right up to the base of the cascade.
The trail starts at the campground's picnic area, where day visitors can use toilets, a shelter and picnic tables. There is no potable water, so bring what you'll need for the walk. The approach road is unsealed; it's suitable for 2WD, though visitors sometimes report rough or muddy conditions after rain.
Wildlife
204 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
109 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
58 sightingsKookaburraMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
97 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
20 sightingsBrushtail PossumMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Otway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
Campground · 0.5 km awayBeauchamp Falls CampgroundFree rainforest camping, with the waterfall walk starting from camp.
Sight · 3.5 km awayAire Valley RedwoodsWalk beneath towering trunks in a quiet, riverside redwood grove.
Sight · 4.3 km awayHopetoun FallsA tree-fern waterfall with about 200 stairs to the lower view.Parkwolf’s Great Otway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
