Waterfall Hike

Easy

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The official park page grades this 6.5km, 3-hour walk as Grade 5 - the park's most challenging trail - passing through Echo Tunnel to the rock escarpments of the upper and lower waterfalls, with cautioned cliff-edge sections especially after rain.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

1.45 km

Est. time

21 min

Elevation gain

4 m

Route type

Loop

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Belair National Park, Belair, Adelaide Hills, SA. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

+ Add to tracks / plans

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Variable GlycineDocumented on this trail

Glycine tabacina

Vulnerable — SA: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — SA: Vulnerable

Glycine tabacina, commonly known as variable glycine, is a scrambling plant in the bean family found in Australia. It grows in areas of high rainfall, ranging to semi-arid areas. The leaves are in threes, 7 cm long by 2 cm wide. Bluish to purple flowers form on racemes in the warmer months. The bean pod is up to 3 cm long. The habitat is among grasses, often in open country.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Belair National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2022) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Fabaceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Glycine tabacina

Messmate Stringybark

Eucalyptus obliqua

Keystone forest tree▾

Keystone forest tree

A tall stringybark that dominates the wetter gullies of the Adelaide Hills, capable of reaching enormous heights in the best Victorian and Tasmanian stands. It was one of the first eucalypts ever described by Europeans, collected on Bruny Island in 1777.

How to spot it

Thick, rough, fibrous stringy bark covers the trunk and larger branches right up into the crown, while the smaller branches are smooth greenish-grey. Glossy lance-shaped leaves and buds/flowers in clusters of 7-15+.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Russell Best (CC BY 2.5 AU) via Wikimedia Commons

South Australian Blue Gum

Eucalyptus leucoxylon

State floral emblem relative▾

State floral emblem relative

A medium eucalypt endemic to south-eastern Australia whose bright red, pink or white flowers make it one of the most widely planted ornamental gums in the country. The red-flowered form found around Adelaide inspired the naming of South Australia's floral emblem, a close relative.

How to spot it

Smooth white, yellow or bluish-grey bark above a stocking of rough, flaky bark at the base. Buds and flowers occur in threes; flower colour is unusually variable from tree to tree - white, pink or red.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: HelloMojo (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Native Fuchsia (Common Correa)

Correa reflexa

Widespread understorey shrub▾

Widespread understorey shrub

One of the most variable native shrubs in southern Australia, ranging from a low prostrate mat to a 1.5 m bush depending on where it grows. Its pendant tubular flowers are a reliable winter nectar source for honeyeaters and hover-feeding insects.

How to spot it

Oval leaves 10-50mm long with visible oil glands and a slightly rough feel. Bell-like, drooping tubular flowers up to 40mm long with four flared tips, usually greenish or red-and-yellow, hanging singly or in small clusters.

Family Rutaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: David Midgley (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Wikimedia Commons

Adelaide Hills Grass Tree

Xanthorrhoea semiplana

Slow-growing icon▾

Slow-growing icon

An iconic, extremely slow-growing grass tree of southern South Australia, taking many decades to form even a short trunk, which makes old plants a living record of how long a patch of bushland has gone unburnt or undisturbed.

How to spot it

Flat (not square) leaf cross-section distinguishes it from the related Xanthorrhoea quadrangulata. Subspecies semiplana is usually trunkless and under 1m tall; subspecies tateana, found on Kangaroo Island, develops a distinct trunk over 1m. Sends up a tall flowering spike after fire or in warmer months.

Family Asphodelaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: DiverDave (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Black-anther Flax Lily

Dianella revoluta

Common understorey herb▾

Common understorey herb

A tufted, grass-like perennial found through much of southern Australia's dry woodland understorey, prized by Aboriginal communities for its edible blue-purple berries and fibrous leaves once used for weaving.

How to spot it

Long, folded, grass-like leaves 15-85cm long. Blue to violet star-shaped flowers with contrasting bright yellow stamens, followed by glossy blue-purple berries.

Family Asphodelaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Sam Genas (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Nodding Greenhood

Pterostylis nutans

Common terrestrial orchid▾

Common terrestrial orchid

One of the most widespread and easily recognised terrestrial orchids in south-eastern Australia, forming loose colonies in leaf litter and appearing reliably each autumn and winter after rain.

How to spot it

A rosette of 3-6 egg-shaped leaves at the base. A single translucent white-and-green flower nods forward strongly on its stem, with a hairy hinged labellum that flicks shut when triggered by a visiting insect.

Family Orchidaceae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Eric Hunt (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Macquarie River Turtle

Emydura macquarii

Critically Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, VIC: Critically Endangered, SA: Vulnerable▾

Critically Endangered — ACT: Restricted Trade Species, VIC: Critically Endangered, SA: Vulnerable

Emydura macquarii, also known as the Murray River turtle, Macquarie River turtle, eastern short-necked turtle, eastern short-neck turtle, and southern river turtle, is a species of freshwater turtle in the family Chelidae. Named after the Macquarie River of New South Wales, the turtle is a wide-ranging species that occurs throughout many of the rivers of the eastern half of Australia.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Belair National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 2025) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Chelidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Emydura macquarii

Photo via iNaturalist Australia (CC-BY-NC 4.0 (Int)), collected by Faye Todd

Pygmy Blue-Tongue

Tiliqua adelaidensis

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, SA: Endangered▾

Endangered — AUS: Endangered, SA: Endangered

The Adelaide pygmy blue-tongue skink or pygmy bluetongue is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species was previously thought to be extinct and only rediscovered in 1992. Known locations of the species extend from Kapunda in the Light River valley, about 77 kilometres (48 mi) north east of Adelaide, northwards to Peterborough, about 254 kilometres (158 mi) north of Adelaide.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Belair National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, date unrecorded) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Scincidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Tiliqua adelaidensis

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Zanda funerea

Vulnerable (South Australia)▾

Vulnerable (South Australia)

A large, mostly brownish-black cockatoo with yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band, whose South Australian population is listed as vulnerable due to ongoing declines in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges.

How to spot it

Look and listen for a large black cockatoo with yellow ear patches and a yellow panel in the tail, giving a far-carrying, wailing contact call from stringybark and pine stands. Often feeds in noisy family groups, tearing apart pine cones and wood-boring grubs from tree limbs.

Family Cacatuidae · Source: Wikipedia: Yellow-tailed black cockatoo

Fir0002/Flagstaffotos, CC BY-NC 3.0 / GFDL 1.2