Along the cliffs of Tootie Creek and up the enchanting Stairway Ravine

This loop bushwalk led by Yuri explores the cliff-line between the Upper Tootie Cascades and Tootie Cascades, rather than the usual route of following Tootie Creek – the aim being to explored the (hopefully!) interesting cliffs above the creek. My last Tootie Creek bushwalk followed the same route as today down to Tootie Creek, but this time we’re returning via Stairway Ravine, a recently “discovered” pass.

T3 to Upper Tootie Cascades via Cascade Peak

The descent to the Colo is via Cascade Peak, an off-track route which I’d done before. The first few hundred metres are a bit scrubby, as we descend towards the start of a narrow ridge.

We’re soon on the narrow ridge, which provides a sweeping view over the Wollemi: a “breathtaking wilderness terrain of gullies and mountaintops that seemed to be going on forever” (Yuri).

To the north is the rounded peak of South Parr and the more pointed Island Mountain, with Tootie Creek and the Colo Gorge below.

There’s a bit of scrambling along the top – or bottom – of the narrow and rocky ridge.

Our route down to Tootie Creek traverses a couple of hills or knolls: the first (unnamed) knoll is just under 500m in elevation, and offers more spectacular Wollemi views.

A narrow slot provides a route down from the knoll towards a small saddle.

Another short ascent from the saddle brings us to the next high point, with more great views.

Followed by another descent through a narrow slot, as we make our way to the sadde below Cascades Peak.

This last saddle – unlike the others – is remarkable for its almost complete absence of undergrowth. There’s an initially steep ascent from the saddle, and we’re soon traversing fairly dense scrub again.

Just below Cascades Peak is the impressive Jaws Cave, named by Yuri (for fairly obvious reasons) on a previous trip.

The informally-named Cascades Peak is the last hill we traverse before descending to Tootie Creek, with more great views including Mount d’Arcy (the “double-headed hill” in the bottom rught photo, and to the right of it is Mount Not-D’Arcy.

This also where the funs ends! After a steep and slightly slippery descent we’re into (mostly) thick scrub as we drop about 300m in elevation over 1.2km.

Just before Tootie Creek, a low cliff-line needs to be negotiated via a couple of steep slots.

Finally Tootie Creek is in sight, with a large swimming hole offering a much-needed and refreshing swim.

Upper Tootie Cascades to the Tootie Cascades

We’ve reached the creek just below the Upper Tootie Cascades, where the water flows over a wide rock platform before reaching a deep pool.

As much as it’s tempting to laze around here for a while, Yuri entertains no such indolence and informs us we have 25min before we resume our bushwalk. (In his defence, he promised we could enjoy a longer swim at the Tootie Cascades.)

Unlike the last Tootie Creek bushwalk with Yuri, this time we head for the base of the broken cliff-line on the southern side of the creek.

After a few small caves, we reach some larger overhangs, many with extensive tafoni formations.

While the cliff-line is not continuous, there are a series of weathered caves and overhangs, many with honeycombed formations in a variety of colours.

It’s much slower going than following the creek, as we navigate a route along a series of ledges and through multiple overhangs, but at least we’re mostly in the shade.

Arguably the most picturesque cave is just after a small tributary gully which dissects the cliffs, requiring a bit of scrambling.

Having taken about an hour to cover about 600m – and with the cliff line now a few contours higher – we continue our journey along the edge of Tootie Creek.

While this is a much easier route, it still involves negotiating large boulders and some easy scrambling onto the many ledges above the creek.

Tootie Creek is a constant and picturesque sight, as we pass lots of small cascades – and tempting pools.

As we continue diownstream, there’s less scrambling and more long ledges above the creek.

Just before Tootie Cascades are some small waterfalls.

We’re all more than ready for a swim as we reach the Tootie Cascades, although the water levels are much lower than last time I was here.

Up Stairway Ravine

Our return to the T3 trail is via Stairway Ravine, one of the many passes down to Tootie Creek identified by Yuri which starts at the Tootie Cascades: “a picturesque shady gorge with step-like easily negotiable stone terraces and pools of running water”.

In contrast to following the spur above the ravine, this exit route means we are tackling the 400m ascent – and there’s even a small trickle of water at the bottom and some pools of water in the creek. (It’s been fairly dry – on Yuri’s maiden voyage up Stairway Ravine he reported many small waterfalls and cascades.)

It’s obvious how the gully got its name, with a series of ledges providing a natural set of “steps” up the creek.

The first 150m or so of elevation gain is almost effortless, as we traverse multiple wide ledges and platforms.

After just under a kilometre we reach a junction with another gully coming from the west. We take the left-gully, which now starts to get a bit steeper.

There are a few spots where the creek bed gets too steep, and we need to scramble around some dry waterfalls (usually on the left hand side).

We reach a second obvious junction, where we take the right-hand gully, which now gets very steep. We cover about 80m elevation gain in about 150m; there’s no climbing or exposure, but some serious scrambling up the narrow ravine.

At the top of Stairway Ravine we re-join the route we took out to Cascades Peak, with just a relatively easy 200m back up to the T3 Track.

Although I’d done part of this loop before, the Stairway Ravine (despite the very steep-but-short section at the top) is a much more enjoyable route back up from Tootie Creek to the road compared to the more exposed spur. And I don’t think you could ever get bored of the walk along the rugged and picturesque Tootie Creek.

Getting to Tootie Creek via Rainbow Ravine

The loop bushwalk starts at the end of the T3 Trail, a firetrail which is accessed via Mountain Lagoon Road from Bilpin. The T3 Trail is suitable with care for a 2WD vehicle, but an SUV/AWD or 4WD with a bit of clearance is recommended. It’s about 20km from Bilpin (allow 30min).