Most of the time, the Forty Foot Falls (or 40 Foot Falls) near Mittagong has a fairly modest flow – although the Nattai River rarely stops flowing completely. After heavy rain, it’s a much more impressive and powerful waterfall.
As the name suggests, the waterfall is about forty feet (12m) in height.
A rough track goes to the base of Forty Falls, and you can clamber over the debris below the waterfall, to stand in the cavern behind the falls.
There’s also a good view of the waterfall from the top, where you can see both the falls and the pool at the base.
You can swim at the Forty Foot Falls – when the river is not in flood – in one of the many small pools below the falls. However, the pools are not very deep and the water quality is fairly poor. While the streams in area were once pristine, they now suffer from urban run-off and outflows from the Mittagong Sewage Treatment Plant.
It takes a long time to do Mittagong thoroughly, there being so much to interest one; and last, but not least, the streams-the clear as crystal streams which are said to abound in trout.
Australian Town and Country Journal, 31 Oct 1906
Getting to the Forty Foot Falls
There are many ways to reach the Forty Foot Falls… the quickest and shortest route is from the start of the Box Vale Walking Track in Welby, which starts just off Boxvale Road near the old Hume Highway. Turn onto the Forty Foot Firetrail which is an easy and level walk.
A signposted bushwalking track drops steeply for the last 500m down to the top of the waterfall, and then to the base.
It’s about a 6.6km return walk (2-3 hours) – or about 11km (4-5 hours) if you’re doing the Box Vale Walking Track with a side-trip to the waterfall.
Alternatively, a longer a slightly more challenging route is to approach Forty Foot Falls from the south, via the Red Trail or Mount Alexandra. The Red Trail starts either at the western end of Leopold Street or near Lake Alexandra Dam on Queen Street in Mittagong, and follows the base of Mount Alexandra. Or from the end of Mount Alexandra Lookout Road, the firetrail ascends to Katoomba Lookout before dropping steeply down Mount Alexandra. Both routes converge just below the Hume Motorway, where the Forty Foot Falls Walking Track follows the Nattai River upstream to the base of the waterfall.
This bushwalk is about 8.8km return (going over Mount Alexandra is about the same distance, but has much more elevation gain). An even long loop combines the Box Vale Walking Track and Mount Alexandra loop.
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