Steavenson Falls

Steavenson Falls drops around eighty-four metres in several stages through mountain ash forest outside Marysville, reached by a sealed path of a few hundred metres from the car park to a viewing platform at the base, with a steeper track climbing to a higher lookout. The falls are lit at night, and the lighting is powered by a small hydro turbine driven by the falls themselves. Marysville was almost completely destroyed in the Black Saturday fires of February 2009, in which the town lost most of its buildings and many lives, and both the town and the surrounding forest have been rebuilt and regrown since, a history the local memorial and the visitor centre address directly.

History

John Steavenson, assistant commissioner of roads and bridges, came to what is now Marysville in 1862 while surveying a new road to the Woods Point goldfields, and the falls and the river are named after him; residents cut a track to the falls in 1866, and the Steavenson Falls Scenic Reserve of 190 hectares was proclaimed in 1959 to protect them (Wikipedia, Steavenson Falls).

Highlights

• The multi-stage fall - eighty-four metres of water dropping through the forest.
• The night lighting - the falls lit by power generated from their own flow.
• The regrown forest - mountain ash recovering since the 2009 fires.
• The upper lookout - the steeper track to a higher viewpoint.

When to go

June to November for the strongest flow, after winter and spring rain; by late summer the falls can be reduced considerably. The night lighting operates in the evenings. Autumn colour in Marysville itself is a separate draw in April and May.

Practical notes

Flow drops markedly in dry summers. The lower walk is short and easy, so the site is a brief stop rather than a day out. The 2009 fire history is present throughout the area and some visitors find the regrown landscape and memorials sobering.

Nearby

Marysville is minutes away; Lake Mountain and the Yarra Ranges lie beyond.

Key facts