Sherbrooke Falls loop walk

Sherbrooke Falls loop walk created by Alysha

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Summary

This walk is public transport friendly! Starting at Belgrave train station, follow the steep road to Sherbrooke Forest, then take the track to the falls. Loop back to Belgrave station.

Description

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The Sherbrooke Forest boasts the tallest flowering hardwood in the world, the Mountain Ash. These lucky trees were saved from logging in 1930 and may be over 200 years old! It’s a little breathtaking to stop and look up and up and marvel at just how tall and straight these trees are. Thankfully stopping also gives you time to gently breathe in the crisp, cool forest air once again.

Winter is a wonderful time to visit for three reasons.

The lyrebird breeds in the depth of winter and the male lyrebird may be heard singing his mating call and dancing his courtship displays. Inverting his tail over his head and fanning his feathers to form a silvery white canopy, what a show off! The female and young males camouflage too well with the forest floor so they are harder to spot.

The second reason is the Sherbrooke falls will be flowing so there’s the movement and vitality of gushing fresh, clean water to enjoy. The falls are quite small and nestled behind fern trees. They’re beautiful but it’s good to know not to expect a high wow factor. Appreciating nature’s beauty and creativity is the pure delight of this walk and breathing in the fresh forest air.

The walk starts at Belgrave station and follows Terrys Ave at the roundabout at the end of the shops. This is a very steep climb and is the third reason to visit in winter, you’ll get very warm walking up and down the paths of this walk! The footpath on Terrys Ave starts on the left hand side then ends, so cross to the right and follow it all the way to where it runs next to the forest and you can switch over to the dirt track.

There are also 3 car parks along this track if you’d prefer to drive.

At the gated entrance to the forest follow the Ridge Track to the falls. It’s easy to navigate, just keep going up until you see the sign to the few steps down to the falls viewing platform.

To head back to Belgrave and the train station, come back to Ridge track and briefly continue higher until you see the sign to your left for the Edgebrooke track. Again, it’s a wide track so you should see it easily. Just beyond this sign, squat down and you'll see a secret pool of water on it's way to the falls.

This track will lead you to another car park at the end of Jacka St that would fit 2 cars. Turn left here instead of exiting to Jacka St and continue through the forest.

Walk back down another gentle sloping grassy hill then along the forest edge until you can switch onto the footpath of Terrys Ave leading you back into Belgrave.

Note- There are no bathrooms along this track, but you can continue onto Sherbrooke or O'Donahue picnic grounds which both have many facilities.

P.S. -The downside of visiting in winter is the path was quite muddy, but because it was wide it was manageable. The Hillclimb track leading back to Belgrave was a very narrow path on a steep decline and much too muddy and slippery to enjoy.