Tomahawk Falls

Cradle Mountain - Lake St Clair National ParkGPS Coords: -41.7579, 145.8931
Land Tenure: National Park

Tasmap Reference: 4037 Will

Updated on 10 Jul 2024

Tomahawk Falls
© 2015 - 2024 Photography: Caedence Kuepper
image

Grade 5 Hike
Suitable for very experienced hikers only.

12km's6-7 Hours From Lake Holmes returnRough unformed track No directional signage

No Modification of the natural environment.

Dogs are not allowed
Drones are not allowed
Unknown if accessible with a caravan
Unknown if accessible with a campervan or RV
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About Tomahawk Falls

The Bluff River area to the west of the Overland Track features numerous waterfalls that can be explored in an off-track day walk, with Tomahawk Falls being the largest of these. The falls plunge over three distinct tiers totalling about 60 metres at the head of a large gorge, however the incredibly steep terrain makes them very difficult and hazardous to access. The falls are probably best visited in late autumn, when the fagus trees put on an impressive display and can be photographed in conjunction with the falls.

To reach Tomahawk Falls, the best route is to descend into the valley containing the upper reaches of the river and its tributaries, leaving the Lake Will track a short distance from Lake Holmes just off the OLT. Much of the walk to Tomahawk Falls is relatively easy off track walking through buttongrass plains, though as the top of the falls is approached the forest begins to close in and the banks become much steeper. With some challenging scrambling it is possible to reach the top of the falls and peer over the edge of the 25 metre upper plunge, and also check out the photo-friendly Tomahawk Cascades just upstream. 

Exploring the middle and lower sections of Tomahawk Falls requires some incredibly difficult and dangerous scrambling, and is not recommended for any but the most experienced and prepared hikers. On our visit we were able to find a vantage point giving a direct view of the 15 metre middle falls, but obtaining a view of the upper falls was completely impossible due to a large cliff blocking the view. The only way to view this section of the falls, besides by drone, would be abseiling. It may be possible to reach the base of the 20 metre lower falls by descending to the river further downstream then wading up, but we were only able to get very partial views of this part of the falls through trees as the ground right beside the waterfall was far too steep to even contemplate a direct route down. 

Naming Confusion

Tomahawk Falls were first discovered by Stephen Spurling III, who lost his Tomahawk in scrub near the falls prompting him to name them as such. There was confusion around the actual location of the falls with Spurling's fellow explorer George Perrin stating that the falls were in fact on Commonwealth Creek. This would be supported by a photo captioned as Tomahawk Falls taken by Spurling that we believe to be of a waterfall on Commonwealth Creek below Razorback Falls (though on our visit to we did not have enough time to confirm this).

However, these photos were not always captioned correctly (see Tumbledown Falls) and given the substantial size of Tomahawk Falls and the fact that Spurling and Perrin very likely explored this area of the Bluff River it seems highly unlikely he would not have attributed a name to this falls which are by far the most significant in the region, so until further evidence proves otherwise we will go with the mapped location as being the correct location of Tomahawk Falls. 

Map

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Previous and Next Waterfall (Alphabetical order)

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Waterfalls near Tomahawk Falls

Tumbledown Falls

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Veil Falls

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