cuckoo falls

Check with the Scottsdale Visitor Centre, I am fairly sure this walk is unaccessible now due to Forestry resource cutbacks.

well worth the walk, which itself is most enjoyable through tree ferns and lush green forest with sound of water and birds

Can get a bit wet underfoot but then it is a waterfall. Take care to remember which forks you take as it may get confusing on the way back.

The other reviews were accurate in that the trail is overgrown, steep, wet, and poorly signed. The worst part of the hike though, was pulling 10 leeches off in the dark car park. I wouldn't return, and would particularly advise against it in the wetter months.

well...this certainly a walk for only the most determined... not for the faint hearted or unprepared. Do not to attempt on your own, or without provisions. l would go so far as to classify it as dangerous. lt is most poorly signed and if you arrive at the carpark after several wrong turns and you have managed to realise the track is actually still a road, you know it is a carpark as it has a bbq. Driven at a crawl, possibly better to walk from the last turnoff. Let it be said l never reached the falls. l dare anyone now to find the track. At first l tried along the creek, which seemingly had a track and some bridgework, but people have trampled everywhere trying to find the track and it disappeares into bush at every turn. Half an hour later l came back to the carpark and seemed to recall l had read it was a steep walk, so possibly l had to head uphill? The arrow on the sign at the carpark could have pointed uphill?? l saw some blue tape tied around a tree up the hill from the table and thought aha! But no. After 22 sightings of blue tape, it was like the game "l spy", as there was absolutely no track between the blue tapes. l felt like Gretel following crumbs and l nearly lost my way simply looking high and low for the next tape. lt was getting dark, with no phone service in the middle of nowhere, so commonsense prevailed and l admitted defeat. l should like to try again another time, but allow a full day and do not go alone...Truly disappointing

Our misadventures began with trying to find the falls which are located near Scottsdale and are about an hour north east of Launceston. Their road sign had fallen over so we first took a wrong turn before finding the right road. A new sign has now been erected.The beginning of the track is overrun by ferns and features a number of boardwalks as it crosses a tributary of the Great Forester River. After this it is all climbing and scrambling and even in the cooler weather we found it hot and humid. It was quite muddy and there were often tree roots across the path. There is a final scramble over boulders to reach the falls. The falls themselves are nice with a corkscrew effect but there is no formal viewpoint or clearing and be warned that in the wetter months there are leeches.The return walk takes about 3 hours (2 on the way up, 1 on the way back featuring some slipping). The falls are the only attraction on the walk due to the closed in canopy so no views.

. I opted for Cuckoo Falls, “...a few kilometres east of Scottsdale. The right turn from the Tasman Highway is well signposted. Follow the signs to the carpark.” Whoever wrote the last sentence hadn’t been there for some time. There is no sign on the most important intersection which cost me about 10 minutes, and another sign was overgrown with foxglove but somehow I made my lonely way up the 7km dirt road to its end.“3 hours return on a very well constructed and mostly dry track....uphill but a fairly gentle incline.” I’ve never read such misleading crap.The sullen sky overhead foretold of rain and the evening was nigh. I started at 4.45 and took a head light in case the times were accurate and the understorey darkened. At the start there were walking sticks and a scratched notice saying, “you will need these”. I pondered their meaning and assumed the trail was tough.The first 200 metres of picture postcard rainforest streams belied the last third of the trail on high. The slope is gentle for the first two thirds but the sweat still dripped off my brow as I passed through the masses of herringbone ferns that overgrow the trail.Then you cross a tiny stream and it gets rugged and the trail only just wider than both my feet side by side; some of the drop-offs were steep and this was obviously where the sticks would have come in handy. I figured no-one from my bushwalking fraternity would ever do this trail as more sweat poured out when I scrambled up a particularly steep part, over fallen logs and stumbling on rocks. I couldn’t get over how someone had even found the place, let alone carved a route to this remote location. Just as the falls could be seen flashing behind the trees across the gorge I got lost, more sidetracked really. Apparently I dipped below the main trail and spend a horrible few minutes scrambling up and down the slippery slope before I found it again.It had been a nervous few moments but within a few minutes I was at the elusive Cuckoo Falls, and splendid they were, but I wondered just how many other cascades the trail had bypassed.I’d made it through the impressive fern forest in just on 1¼ hours and returned in just under an hour with the sky finally dropping its precipitation in a misty display.