Upper Kalimna Falls — Attraction in Lorne

Highly recommend visiting Upper and Lower Kalimna falls if down the Great Ocean Road / Lorne way! The walk itself is absolutely breathtaking and being in the Otways you really do get the rainforest feel. Be super vigilant of snakes, came across two tiger snakes when walking down but it was a very hot day and they were out sun baking off the track minding there own business. For this reason unless you have the proper footwear I would recommend staying to track and/or carrying a compression bandage (as you should always anyway, just incase). The walk itself is easy/moderate.

Once you reach the falls you have an amazing view from the front where the waterfall comes into a big pool and then down the creek. I'm not sure if you are able to swim in this falls but we took a quick dip in the shallow parts. We were lucky enough to see fish (maybe an eel) in the water while we were there. It's a pretty shaded area, if you come early in the morning, you are normally lucky enough to be the only person there. I find this place doesn't get too packed throughout the week. You can sit behind the waterfall itself which is...

Another gem in within the Great Otway National Park, and is a top contender for the title of one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Great Otway National Park. The 5.5km (return) walk to the Lower Kalimna Falls takes you through a beautiful creek valley filled with tall ferns and giant blue gums. The walk to the lower falls is an easy one. However, with heavy rains, the path will get quite muddy and sometimes you'd have to climb over fallen trees and branches. You can walk past the lower falls all the way to the Upper Kalimna Falls (8.2km return trip). Unfortunately, during my visit, the path to the upper falls was closed off due fallen trees.

What is a bit unique about this waterfall is that you can easily walk behind the waterfall.

To get to the falls, park at the Sheoak picnic area and follow the clearly marked path...

A very poor quality experience, beginning with the appallingly churned up track that is in many places ankle deep with mud. I am no stranger to mud and gunk, but the rule is to walk through the mud, not around it. That people are fanning out to avoid the mud means more and more vegetation is trampled as the track becomes wider and increasingly eroded at its edges.

The Falls themselves have one of the worst degraded environments I have seen anywhere. High visitation and unfettered movement has created spreading bare patches devoid of native vegetation and introduced weeds. It is fortunate that within the wider Great Otway National Park there are many, many waterfalls unknown and unheard of to the masses, lest they become an environmental disaster as this particular destination has...