Sheoak Picnic Area

Sheoak Picnic Area is a forest clearing on Garvey Track, inland from Lorne, under tall eucalypts and beside ferny gullies. It is both a picnic stop and a signed starting point for walks to several Otway waterfalls. Come here for a shaded lunch, or use the tables as the start of a longer outing; choose your route before you set off.

The clearing has picnic tables, gas barbecues, an information board and a toilet facility. Bring your own food; no café or vendor is listed at the clearing, and carry water for the walks. Toilet arrangements have varied, so have a backup plan if you are relying on them. Dogs and camping are prohibited, as are open fires; use the supplied gas barbecues.

Walks from the picnic area lead toward Lower and Upper Kalimna Falls, Won Wondah Falls, Henderson Falls, Phantom Falls and The Canyon. The Lower and Upper Kalimna Falls route is about 8 km return and takes around three hours. It follows an old timber tramway and is graded difficult, so treat it as a planned hike. Check current track conditions before setting out.

The clearing is open woodland; wetter creek courses hold fern gullies and pockets of rainforest. The Canyon walk passes sheer rock walls about 10 m high. Local walk notes name pied currawongs, New Holland honeyeaters and white-throated treecreepers among birds heard in this well-watered corridor, so slow down and listen beneath the canopy.