Very few people have run this creek. It has a tiny catchment, massive drops and it drops into a lake with a very, very hard landing off an enormous waterfall.
This creek flows through farmland, before it suddenly starts dropping. It’s not particularly pretty, but it is spectacular, with big bed rock drops that are cliffed out and very difficulty to scout and portage. In fact there are only 5 drops on this creek.
The first waterfall drops onto rocks and needs to be portaged on the left.
After this you have a cool boof onto a long slide, in fact probably the biggest paddleable slide in Tassie, it’s quite fun.
After this you have a very sketchy exit from your boat on the left to scout the next drop, with the cliffs stopping you from portaging or getting close to the drop. This first drop is a little bit rocky, and drops into a small pool which immediately then drops off a very large waterfall with a massive tree inside it. It’s a bit intimidating dropping into the pool on this one!
The big waterfall needs a rope and some dodgy climbing amongst trees to get around it, and then you’re into the pool and ready for the last drop, the big one. This drop is almost impossible to scout and has a long, fast, sliding, curving entrance that then drops into a big vertical drop, probably 15 metres, with a very, very hard landing into Lake Barrington. It’s a hard hit!
This creek is short and serious, probably needing three days of continuous, heavy rain to get it high enough. The more water the better. Get on it, but take it easy, and you HAVE to paddle some of these drops, a walk out would be a nightmare and portaging is not really an option.
Incidentally, if anyone here has watched the classic video X-Tas, Extreme Kayaking in Tasmania, the sequence on Forth Falls Creek is easily the best segment of the movie, with great shots and perfect music. Jimmy launches off the log drop in spectacular fashion, a shot that just blows you away. Try and find a copy and check it out.
cheers
Harry
btw, sorry for the lack of kayaking shots, I don't have access to any of my pictures at the moment and I don't have any of this river anyway. Similar story to a few of the other top ten as well :(
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