Sight · Great Otway National Park
A short climb to a long cascade across a steep gorge.
Overview
Carisbrook Falls is a waterfall on Carisbrook Creek, viewed from a signed lookout across a steep gorge near Wongarra in Great Otway National Park. The cascades lie several hundred metres away on the opposite wall, so this is a viewpoint stop rather than a walk to the water. The uphill approach is brief but moderately steep and is not wheelchair-accessible.
Parkwolf’s verdictWorth a short stopMap
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
Carisbrook Falls: Across the Gorge“You're coming up on the Carisbrook Falls walking access, where a short climb leads to a view across a steep gorge. Allow fifteen to thirty minutes return, with an uneven uphill stretch.”
Plays as you drive up to Carisbrook 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
Rain and the wetter months usually bring the strongest flow; after a dry summer or autumn, the water can be weak or nearly absent. When the creek is running, its white cascades are the payoff for the short climb. Watch for the brown roadside sign on the Great Ocean Road between Kennett River and Skenes Creek; visitors say the turnoff is easy to miss.
Carisbrook Creek crosses beds of marine arkose that dip downstream. Where those rock layers meet the channel, they break the water into rapids and smaller cascades over a long reach, rather than one uninterrupted plunge. The falls are best understood as a whole stretch of creek working its way down the gorge.
From the lookout, the cascade, rock face and wooded valley make a stronger picture together than a tight shot of the water. The falls are distant, so binoculars help pick out the separate steps. After rain, look for white water threading down the far wall.
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
EasyCarisbrook Falls Walk0.6 km · 24 min · 0.2 km awayA short climb opens a distant view of Carisbrook Falls.
EasyKennett River Glow-Worm Walk0.2 km · 30 min · 3.4 km awayA 0.15-mile night walk to a creekside glow-worm grotto.
EasyKennett River Nature Walk2.5 km · 45 min · 5.1 km awayAn easy riverbank walk with local wildlife and history to notice.Parkwolf’s Great Otway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
