Posts Tagged With: Eliot Falls

Following the fun at Gunshot Creek watching others trying to avoid breaking their cars it was time for us to have some fun as we headed to Fruit Bat Falls and Eliot Falls. Less than 30km north we turned off to Fruit Bat Falls for an early morning swim before the crowds arrived. The river is fairly shallow running over a rock platform then drops a couple of metres per the falls into a sandy pool below, great fun for swimming with the kids.

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Sufficiently cooled off we decide to head to the camp at Eliot Falls for lunch. 12km away we had heard the road had a particularly deep crossing, marked innocently as a ford. Scrubby Creek as it is known was silted up on arrival so we had to wade it, water levels reaching the thigh, deeper in the middle. After watching cars go through on both sides we crossed without trauma, sticking to the one side. The park itself sits on the edge of the Jardine River National Park and Heathlands Regional Park. At Eliot there are three main waterholes called the Saucepan, Twin and Eliot falls. The former was a deep section of the Eliot river with cascades into it, allowing older kids to jump from the sides. Twin Falls was more picturesque with a series of small waterfalls into sandy bottomed shallow pools, fed from Canal Creek and more suitable for younger children. The clarity of the water proved popular with our kids as they fossicked for stones in the river bed. Pitcher plants, sundews and bladderworts, all insectivorous plants lined the riverbanks, testament to the nutrient poor soil on and around the limestone rock.

Eliot Falls at dawn

Eliot Falls at dawn

Twin falls at sunrise

Twin Falls

Eliot Falls from the top

Scrubby creek ford!

Eliot Falls themselves were the biggest falls offering 3m jumps into the middle of the horseshoe shaped falls. Below the falls deep rocky sections flowed rapidly over large boulders offering lap pool alternatives, swimming into the current. Where the two rivers meet it was noticeably warmer water coming from Canal Creek.

We spent two days here relaxing with plenty of swimming to cool us from the searing heat. For such a popular spot it was a shame to have no visible Park Ranger presence whilst we were there. People had dogs in the park, generators on at night, people ripping down trees in the campground for firewood, and Simon and Hilary even spotted people soaping up ready to wash in the rivers. It won’t be long before it becomes a lot less attractive if Queensland Parks don’t raise their game, focus on the site preservation rather than the ridiculous online camping booking system aimed at revenue raising rather than customer experience. The city-dwelling consultants who sold that one to the government should be ashamed of themselves as they clearly don’t understand how travellers operate. Maybe another blog for that one!