Minnow Falls Skyline Circuit
Posted: Sun 14 Apr, 2019 9:09 pmMinnow Falls Skyline Circuit
The Minnow falls are the highest multi-tier waterfalls in Tasmania. It tumbles 227m down the Eastern escarpment of Mount Roland into the Bottom pool via a series of cascades and small falls and has 3 main falls of 60m, 80m and 50m. After heavy rain it becomes down right awesome and the upper and Middle falls can be seen from far away. However, each big fall runs through a slot in different directions, so only one fall can be seen from a set point. The Middle falls are the most spectacular and you can view it from the Middle falls platform, behind which it drops into an other chute, taking it to the last big drop. People have been going to the falls for a long time and it has always been a challenge to get there. Fred Groenier marked a track from Belstone road to the bottom falls, now know as the Old Minnow Falls Track, and pioneered the access track to the top of the Falls. Bill Shepherd Installed the rope ladders and maintained the track for more than ten years. But when Bill sort of retired and started concentrating on the Wilmot tracks the Old Minnow falls track was semi forgotten and quickly deteriorated. The shortest way to the falls seemed to be via the Bottom 1 Rd in the Paradise Plantation. There was some evidence of a track along the Norther side of the river but it was quite over grown. Where all signs of a track disappeared, we set out to create an new access track to the falls. After many months of intermittent searching and track clearing, we arrived at the inter section of the Old Minnow falls, we then proceeded to clear the track all the way to the middle falls. We decided to call the new track “The New Minnow Falls Track” only to find out later, that the new track is almost in the same location as an previous track with the same name shown on open source maps. Once we found out that Forestry Tasmania [now Sustainable Timbers] had cleared the road block at Minnow Creek, on Belstone Rd, we also cleared the Old Minnow Falls track from Belstone Rd. And we cleared an existing mineral exploration track from the New Minnow Falls track to the old gravel pit road to create a loop via the old Minnow falls track. Bill Shepherd told us about the skyline track, that he had walked many moons ago, that goes up from an logging Rd on the southern side of the Minnow River. We decided that it would be great if we could create a circuit route from the Bottom 1 Road car park and then down over the New Minnow falls Track. Last Friday 12-04-2019 we set out to explore the Minnow Falls Skyline Circuit and repair some of the broken rope ladders on the decent on the other side of the Falls. The walk up from the car park is pretty steep with sporadic pink tape. The going got easier once we got onto the logging road. At the end of the logging Rd there was a big blaze in an old tree with some aluminium tags. We followed a flagged track that pretty soon went up the escarpment. The ascent got steeper as we went up with a bit of tree fall here and there. We negotiated a few tricky bits and shonky ladders that stood up well. Once we arrived on the plateau we had to battle the tea tree. After 3 hours we had lunch on the top of the escarpment above the river. After the break we moved down to the river and crossed over to the other side. At the top of the falls we took some pics and then followed the track to where we started our descent. When we got to the first ladder nobody was game to descent it. So, we abseiled down while Bill and Lindsay stayed behind to replace the ladder with the new one that Lindsay had painfully lugged up the hill in a sturdy shopping bag [bet you he won’t do that again!] Bob, Herman and me proceeded to the second ladder and set out to replace it with the new stainless-steel cables and the new treads that we had brought along. We managed to rig the second ladder while Bill and Lindsay run into some snags. Time was running out so we left a new safety rope at the first ladder and then went home via the Middle platform and the New Minnow falls track. I’m pretty sure we will replace the other ladders soon and clear some of the tea tree at the top of the escarpment. So, we are pleased to announce that the “Minnow Falls Skyline Circuit” is now open for business!
The Minnow falls are the highest multi-tier waterfalls in Tasmania. It tumbles 227m down the Eastern escarpment of Mount Roland into the Bottom pool via a series of cascades and small falls and has 3 main falls of 60m, 80m and 50m. After heavy rain it becomes down right awesome and the upper and Middle falls can be seen from far away. However, each big fall runs through a slot in different directions, so only one fall can be seen from a set point. The Middle falls are the most spectacular and you can view it from the Middle falls platform, behind which it drops into an other chute, taking it to the last big drop. People have been going to the falls for a long time and it has always been a challenge to get there. Fred Groenier marked a track from Belstone road to the bottom falls, now know as the Old Minnow Falls Track, and pioneered the access track to the top of the Falls. Bill Shepherd Installed the rope ladders and maintained the track for more than ten years. But when Bill sort of retired and started concentrating on the Wilmot tracks the Old Minnow falls track was semi forgotten and quickly deteriorated. The shortest way to the falls seemed to be via the Bottom 1 Rd in the Paradise Plantation. There was some evidence of a track along the Norther side of the river but it was quite over grown. Where all signs of a track disappeared, we set out to create an new access track to the falls. After many months of intermittent searching and track clearing, we arrived at the inter section of the Old Minnow falls, we then proceeded to clear the track all the way to the middle falls. We decided to call the new track “The New Minnow Falls Track” only to find out later, that the new track is almost in the same location as an previous track with the same name shown on open source maps. Once we found out that Forestry Tasmania [now Sustainable Timbers] had cleared the road block at Minnow Creek, on Belstone Rd, we also cleared the Old Minnow Falls track from Belstone Rd. And we cleared an existing mineral exploration track from the New Minnow Falls track to the old gravel pit road to create a loop via the old Minnow falls track. Bill Shepherd told us about the skyline track, that he had walked many moons ago, that goes up from an logging Rd on the southern side of the Minnow River. We decided that it would be great if we could create a circuit route from the Bottom 1 Road car park and then down over the New Minnow falls Track. Last Friday 12-04-2019 we set out to explore the Minnow Falls Skyline Circuit and repair some of the broken rope ladders on the decent on the other side of the Falls. The walk up from the car park is pretty steep with sporadic pink tape. The going got easier once we got onto the logging road. At the end of the logging Rd there was a big blaze in an old tree with some aluminium tags. We followed a flagged track that pretty soon went up the escarpment. The ascent got steeper as we went up with a bit of tree fall here and there. We negotiated a few tricky bits and shonky ladders that stood up well. Once we arrived on the plateau we had to battle the tea tree. After 3 hours we had lunch on the top of the escarpment above the river. After the break we moved down to the river and crossed over to the other side. At the top of the falls we took some pics and then followed the track to where we started our descent. When we got to the first ladder nobody was game to descent it. So, we abseiled down while Bill and Lindsay stayed behind to replace the ladder with the new one that Lindsay had painfully lugged up the hill in a sturdy shopping bag [bet you he won’t do that again!] Bob, Herman and me proceeded to the second ladder and set out to replace it with the new stainless-steel cables and the new treads that we had brought along. We managed to rig the second ladder while Bill and Lindsay run into some snags. Time was running out so we left a new safety rope at the first ladder and then went home via the Middle platform and the New Minnow falls track. I’m pretty sure we will replace the other ladders soon and clear some of the tea tree at the top of the escarpment. So, we are pleased to announce that the “Minnow Falls Skyline Circuit” is now open for business!