The Terrace Falls Circuit Walk is a stunning walking trail in Terrace Falls Reserve in Hazelbrook that takes in several named and unnamed waterfalls and pools.
The main highlight of this walk is Terrace Falls, an impressive cascade waterfall amidst beautiful bushland surroundings.
There are several ways to visit this waterfall, but in this article, we will focus on a 4.5 km loop walk that includes Terrace Falls, Victor Falls, and several other highlights.
| Terrace Falls Circuit | |
|---|---|
| Distance: | 4.5 km (part loop) |
| Duration: | 2.5 hours |
| Grade: | Moderate (steep sections) |
| Dogs: | On a lead |
Getting There
There are various ways to visit the main waterfall in Terrace Falls Reserve, but we strongly recommend doing the 4.5 km circuit walk.
The trailhead for this loop is at the junction of Valley Road and Heron Place in Hazelbrook where you can park your car (see map location).
Driving there is easy. Take the Railway Parade exit from the Great Western Highway and turn into Valley Road. Drive on that road for about 2 km until the junction with Heron Place.
Track Notes
The Terrace Falls Circuit is around 4.5 km long, and we consider it moderately challenging. There are quite a few creek crossings where your feet may get a little wet, and at times, the path is a bit overgrown and narrow.
We strongly recommend wearing hiking shoes with good grip for this hike to better deal with the creek crossings, stairs, and other obstacles.
The signage along the walking track isn’t the best, so we recommend studying the map and track notes below to familiarise yourself with the path and all its highlights before heading out.
Map
In the following map, we have marked the parking area on Heron Place and the four highlights along the trail.
- Pyramid Falls
- Bedford Pool
- Terrace Falls
- Victor Falls
The Start
Once you’re ready to start hiking, make your way to the locked gate where the walking trail to Terrace Falls officially starts.
The first 750 metres of the walk are on Terrace Falls Road, which is now a fire trail, gradually going downhill.
This fire trail used to be open to vehicles (there are even some old car parks along this road) but has been closed for some time now.
That’s probably for the best because the road is not in good condition!
After a few twists and turns in the road, you will eventually see a big signpost with an information board.
It’s worth taking a look at the map there and reading through the highlights along the trail before continuing.
Pyramid Falls
The trail heads straight into the bush beyond that signpost, and you’ll notice the scenery changing almost instantly.
The path is quite narrow from that point onwards and navigates through beautiful forest scenery, surrounded by tall trees, lush ferns, and lots of rocks and boulders.
After a couple hundred metres of hiking through this landscape, the trail arrives at a junction where you need to turn left to visit Pyramid Falls.
This is only a short side trail, but you need to climb over a fallen tree and a few rocks to get a decent view of this small but picturesque waterfall.
Like most waterfalls in the Lower Blue Mountains, if there hasn’t been much rain, there may not be a lot of water flowing. In other words, it’s best to do this hike after some decent rainfall.
Bedford Pool
From Pyramid Falls, retrace your steps back to the junction and continue hiking on the path in the opposite direction.
This is where the path descends further into the gully via a series of stairs, with the creek flowing on your left. A few hundred metres further away, choose the narrow path that branches off to the left towards the beautiful Bedford Pool.
Bedford Pool is quite large, with clear water and a sandy beach on the other side. On warmer days, this is a fantastic place for a quick swim!
From Bedford Pool, follow the picturesque trail that continues along the creek. This trail reconnects with the main trail a few hundred metres later, right before a junction with a side trail to Picnic Point and Willawong Pool.
To get to Willawong Pool, you have to cross the creek and hike another 200 metres. We went there, and it was lovely, but if you’re short on time, we recommend skipping this side trail.
We think Bedford Pool is prettier than Willawong Pool, so you won’t miss out on much if you decide to skip that extra walk.
Terrace Falls
From the Willawong Pool junction, follow the signs for Terrace Falls and Victor Falls, and you’ll soon arrive at a beautiful waterfall with a large pool in front of it.
At first, we thought this was Terrace Falls, but it wasn’t!
This waterfall doesn’t seem to have an official name, although we’ve heard of some sources calling this waterfall Little Terrace Falls.
Interestingly, we thought this was the prettiest waterfall on the entire trail, so it’s strange that it doesn’t seem to have an official name.
To get to Terrace Falls, cross the creek at “Little Terrace Falls” and keep hiking on the main trail for a little longer.
There are a few more creek crossings you need to do (including one past what we believe is Salote Pool) until you see a signpost for Terrace Falls and Victor Falls.
Once you arrive at Terrace Falls, you’ll immediately see why it is called that way. It’s a beautiful cascade waterfall with water flowing over a series of terraces before dropping into a large pool.
Victor Falls
Return to the main trail and follow signs for Victor Falls to visit the last waterfall along this fantastic circuit walk.
Victor Falls is quite a large waterfall that drops over a cliff, but as large as it is, we didn’t like this one as much as the other waterfalls on the trail.
Nonetheless, it’s a pretty enough waterfall to do some exploring, as the scenery overall is quite picturesque.
From Victor Falls, return to the signposted junction, turn right, and follow the main trail going uphill.
The path eventually links up with the Terrace Falls Road fire trail, where you turn right to return to the starting point and the car park.
Keen to do another waterfall walk nearby? Check out the Transit of Venus Track in Woodford, an exciting bushwalking trail with three pretty waterfalls.
