The waterfalls where the Northern Tablelands ends

The falls on the edge, north to south

The bioregion ends in the east at the Great Escarpment, where the coastal streams have cut their gorges deep below the plateau, and the falls stand along that line. Read down the plan on this page, the named falls are these, each set at its stated position.

Boonoo Boonoo Falls, at a lookout 40 minutes from Tenterfield, where the Boonoo Boonoo River cascades over a 210 m cliff into a gorge, as the parks service's lookout page describes it.

Ebor Falls, where the Guy Fawkes River drops 100 m in two waterfalls, watched from four lookout platforms along the gorge edge. The Gumbaynggirr people called the falls ‘Martiam’, ‘the great falls’, and a 360 m loop walk from the carpark reaches a cantilevered lookout. The Muurlay Garriirlgundi track joins the upper and lower falls in a 2 km return walk with six lookouts, and a 1.1 km track runs from the upper falls carpark into Ebor village.

Here the Guy Fawkes River runs north to south along the Demon fault line, a crack in the landscape 240 million years old, and in the south of the park the Ebor volcano's lava built the falls' unusual organ pipe-like rock formations.

Wollomombi Falls, where the water drops into a deep ravine cut from rock where the Chandler and Wollomombi rivers meet. The parks service calls the falls one of Australia's largest, and says on its park page that they are the highest waterfall in NSW; its lookout is a highlight of the Waterfall Way, a 200 m walk from the picnic area. Dry rainforest survives in pockets in the gorge below, the lookout page says, crucial habitat for the wildlife of the Macleay Gorge system, and the council's visitor page notes that the name Wollomombi comes from Aboriginal words for a meeting of the waters.

Chandler Falls, seen from a lookout at the end of the Wollomombi walking track, where the river drops through the chasm in a series of steps; across the gorge, peregrine falcons nest on the cliff ledges, and freshwater eels swim in the ponds below. Geoscience Australia notes that the falls sit just upstream of the confluence.

Dangars Falls, near Armidale, a 120 m waterfall whose main lookout the parks service says is a great spot to see it, at the end of the short and easy Dangars Falls walking track; from there, the page says, you can literally stand over a waterfall.

Apsley Falls, 18 km east of Walcha, where the plateau is steeply cut by gorge country. Walcha Council's account gives the first drop as 114 m, the second, a kilometre further on, as 195 m, and the gorge as 360 m deep. The closest lookout to the upper cascades is on the Apsley Gorge Rim walking track, and the parks service says the best time to visit is after heavy rain, when water cascading over the cliffs fills the air with mist.

Tia Falls, which the parks service calls arguably the prettiest waterfall in the New England region even though it is not the biggest, and reliable in flow, its multi-tiered cascades seen from a lookout 650 m from the Tia Falls picnic area.

How high each fall is, and who says so

Wollomombi Falls is the one fall on this edge whose official heights disagree, and the disagreement is worth reading closely. Geoscience Australia says Wollomombi Falls includes cascades and a horsetail drop of 260 metres, and that with the continuous upper cascade included it is sometimes quoted at a total fall of 424 metres. The parks service's lookout page gives a single drop of 240 m into the ravine. The Armidale Regional Council's visitor page gives 220 m, with the single drop 100 m, and calls the gorge the deepest in NSW. Geoscience Australia also records contention over whether Wollomombi or Queensland's Wallaman Falls is Australia's highest waterfall, and says the argument turns on whether cascades are counted; on the World Waterfall Database's ranking, the page reports Wollomombi at 135. The table sets the figures side by side, each with the agency that states it.

The gorges

The park page's own summary of the gorge country is that it holds one of Australia's largest gorge systems, with incredible ridge-top views to match. The scale shows in the wildlife: the park's varied plant communities are home to over 350 animal species, including the largest confirmed population of brush-tailed rock wallabies, and over 173 bird species have been recorded, among them the wedge-tailed eagle, peregrine falcon, square-tailed kite and sea eagle. The same page counts roughly 10,000 of that endangered species in the park, though you will need to keep your eyes open to catch a glimpse of their bushy tails. Walcha Council's figures put some 205,000 hectares of national parks, wilderness and state forest in its local government area around the Macleay Gorges, with parts of Werrikimbe National Park on the World Heritage list. Farther north, Guy Fawkes River National Park holds one of the most significant wilderness areas in northern NSW, 84,000 of the park's 107,000 hectares, and its valleys carry archaeological evidence of Aboriginal occupation going back more than 10,000 years, with the Guy Fawkes and Boyd rivers once serving as trade routes between the tablelands and the coast. The river itself was named by Major Edward Parke, after a camp nearby on Guy Fawkes Day, 5 November 1845. The parks service also offers the multi-day Green Gully walk, with overnight stays in heritage-listed stockman's huts.

The lookouts on the rim

Every one of the falls above has a lookout, and the parks service gives the walk to each. Wollomombi Main Falls lookout is a 200 m walk from its picnic area; Dangars' is at the end of a short and easy track and puts you over the waterfall itself; Apsley's closest view of the upper cascades is along the Apsley Gorge Rim walking track, best taken after heavy rain. Chandler Falls lookout is at the end of the Wollomombi walking track, above the chasm. At Ebor Falls there are four lookout platforms along the edge of the gorge, a 360 m loop from the carpark to a cantilevered lookout, and six lookouts along the 2 km Muurlay Garriirlgundi track. Tia Falls lookout is a 650 m walk from its picnic area, and Boonoo Boonoo's is 40 minutes from Tenterfield. The parks service's own park and lookout pages carry the current access notes before a visit.

When the parks close

Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is always open, the parks service says, but may have to close at times because of poor weather or fire danger, and its visitor page carries the current word. Pets and domestic animals other than certified assistance animals are not permitted in the park. The Waterfall Way page adds that mobile reception may be absent in different areas along the drive.