Little River Loop – an idyllic Southern Highlands hike

I owe my thanks to Mark Goodson for discovering this quite spectacular loop walk, which explores the Little River at the eastern edge of the Nattai National Park in the Southern Highlands. It’s one of the easier (and most accessible) walks you can do in the wild and rugged Nattai, but still gives you a sense of complete isolation and tranquillity. The start of the Little River Loop is somewhat incongruent to the rest of the walk, as it passes though a locked gate and follows the Buxton Plateau Trail towards an enormous electricity pylon.

The Buxton Plateau Trail continues for eight kilometres to Ladie’s Waist Lookout, and my plan was to knock this off first… but after half an hour of fairly dreary walking along the firetrail, I turned back.

The Little River Loop continues for a short distance along another service trail for the powerlines, but soon reaches the edge of the clearing where a yellow triangle marks the start of the The Hermits Track.

The Hermits Track – supposedly named after a hermit who lived in Dobson’s Cave in the 1990s – starts descending into the valley. A rock platform provides an informal lookout over the bush… and another distant electricity pylon.

The Hermits Track descends pretty consistently, with a combination of ribbons, yellow tags and cairns marking the route – you can’t really lose the track, although it’s a bit indistinct in places.

After crossing Rain Trap Creek, Little River comes into view through the bush; it reminds me a bit of the Colo River, on a small scale, with sandy banks on both sides of the shallow water.

The track meets Little River next to Dobsons Cave, a large overhang near a small waterfall. Rain Trap Creek – which I crossed a little further upstream – drops into a deep pool, which is surrounded by a wall of thick ferns.

Downstream along Little River is another long and deep overhang; I’m heading upstream along the fairly wide valley.

There’s no track from here, with the route now following Little River upstream. (The Little River is not so little, descending 475 metres over its 27-kilometre course from the Hilltop area of Nattai National Park to the Nattai River.)

It’s one of the nicest creek or river walks I’ve done around Sydney; while not as spectacular as Erskine Creek or Glenbrook Creek in the Blue Mountains, it’s easy and pleasant walking as the river alternates between stretches of white sand and rocky gorges. Occasional clumps of bark and debris in the trees along the river show the level that the water reaches during floods, when the tranquil river turns into a raging torrent.

Along the first section of the Little River Loop, the water is shallow and you can walk down the middle of the river.

The river starts getting a bit more rocky, with a few more sandstone overhangs on both sides.

Near the middle of the loop is arguably the most spectacular section: there are tall and steep cliffs on one side of the valley, as the river flows through a series of large boulders.

Just after the semi-gorge is a deep pool, the first of several swimming holes along the Little River. I’m a couple of hours into the loop walk, and haven’t seen a single person.

The river goes back to being wide, sandy and shallow again.

I hear voices in the distance, breaking the sense of isolation I’ve felt as I wander slowly up the river. Up ahead of me is a family, who have walked down from the Aqua Pool. There’s a deep pools here where the river cascades over a few boulders.

There are two more pools along the river; the second one is a beautiful swimming hole, with a small waterfall at the top and shaded areas above the river bank.

The next pool is called Aqua Pool, and unlike the rest of the walk it’s a popular spot on the weekend – there’s perhaps 15 people enjoying the warm afternoon in and around the deep pool.

I’m on a trail for the first time since I reached the river that starts from the Aqua Pool, and follows the river upstream providing the easiest access to this area.

The Little River is wide along this section next to the Aqua Pool Trail, with a few deep sections and a sandy bank on one side.

Before taking the steep exit trail out, I continue following the Little River further upstream. It’s such pleasant walking, with the water shallow enough that you can easily walk up the middle of the river.

The Little River Trail North crosses the river, as I continue upstream.

After another 400m, the Little River Trail North re-crosses the river again, near the junction with Moore Creek.

The character of the river now starts to change, with the creekbed becoming much rockier and the flow of water reducing significantly.

After wading and walking upstream for about 2km from the Aqua Pool Trail, I stop and turn around. The Little River continues for about another 8km to its headwater, although I suspect as some point it dries up when there hasn’t been recent rain, and the creekbed becomes scrubby. It’s another walk for another day. Although it’s nicer walking along the river, I take the Little River Trail North back, which is a wide firetrail making it a much quicker trip back.

Once back at the Aqua Pool Trail, there’s a short but steep climb up from the river, before the track levels out.

The trailhead is on Boundary Road, leaving an easy but dreary 2km walk back along the road to where I left my car, completing the loop.

Getting to the Little River Loop

You can do this partly off-track loop in either direction: The Hermits Track at the northern end is longer but less steep, compared to the Aqua Pool Trail. The advantage of doing the loop in an anti-clockwise direction is that there are a lot more swimming holes near the end of the walk.

The Hermits Track starts at the end of Buxton Avenue, which turns into the Buxton Plateau Trail. Look for a locked gate on the left just before you reach a private property at the end of the road. The more popular Aqua Pool Trail starts from Boundary Road, where there is also a locked gate (this very last part of the bushwalk is in the Bargo State Conservation Area). Buxton is about a 1:30min drive from Sydney. Unless you’re doing a car shuffle, there’s a 2km road-walk between the two trailheads.