The 10 best waterfalls in Australia

Since Australia is a huge paradise overflowing with beautiful places it’s not easy to decide where to start. If you’ve ever wondered to yourself, “Australia is home to heaps of waterfalls, I wonder if someone has made a top 10 list of the best waterfalls around Australia?”. Well, lucky you! Because we made a top 10 list of best waterfalls around Australia! We will start in the north then through the east, south and end in the west of Australia. After reading this, you can easily decide which falls to go to from where you are right now or where you’re planning to go (We’ve even linked them on google maps so you don’t have to hunt them down)!

Waterfalls in Northern Territory

Jim Jim Falls

Thanks to: Charisma planet

Let’s start in the north of Australia to keep things easy. The first waterfall is located in Kakadu National Park. Besides beautiful flora and fauna, you can find the magnificent Jim Jim Falls here. With her almost 200m high fall, she is very impressive. Since it's located in the Northern Territory, it can get very hot and dry. So if you want to see water falling down, you should have a trip to Kakadu during the wet season as it can completely dry up if there hasn't been enough rain. Wet season is from November to April.

Waterfalls in Queensland

Barron Falls

Thanks to: Orange smiles

If we go a bit more to the east of Australia, we end up at the Barron Falls. You will find her just a 40 minutes drive from Cairns. The Barron Falls is located along the Barron River in Queensland, it is apart of Barron Gorge National Park. With her 256m high fall, she is one of the most beautiful and most famous waterfalls in Australia. If you manage to go after heavy rainfall, you might see something like this picture or even better! We would recommend going during the wet season (November - April).

Mena Creek Falls

Thanks to: Travel2next

If we go a bit more down the east coast we will arrive at Mena Creek Falls in Queensland. The falls are located in the wonderfull Paronella Park between Mission Beach and Innisfail. Since 1993 Paronella Park has been owned by Mark and Judy Evans. They have enthusiastically been maintaining the moss-draped, crumbling buildings in the park. The Mena Creek waterfall is a spectacular single drop waterfall over a seven million year old (!) Basalt rock cliff.There is a bridge where you can walk right over the top of the falls! Entry fee gives you free camping next door. This park and the falls are really good after dark when they're all lit up! This little paradise is definitely worth visiting!

Waterfalls in New South Wales

Wollomombi waterfalls

Thanks to: Colin8995

The name of the waterfall stemmed from an aboriginal word, which roughly means “meeting of the waters”, referring to the confluence of the Wollomombi River and Chandler River in the Wollomombi Gorge. Wollomombi is one of the highest waterfalls in New South Wales and is located in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park with a massive 220M drop. There are a lot of hikes that lead to higher spots to admire the beauty of the waterfall. If you are lucky, you might spot a rainbow!

Killen Falls

Thanks to: Australia swims

The Killen Falls is located in Ballina, just a 30 minute drive from Byron Bay. The waterfall itself is only 10m high, but the cool thing here is that you will be able to swim in the watering hole, but don’t forget that it can be slippery! Before you take a dive (or if you don’t feel like getting wet), there is a cave behind the waterfall which you can explore and stay dry in! There is a short, hilly walk down an unpaved trail to get to the swimming hole. Once there the terrain is uneven, but there are plenty of flat areas to sit down.

Ebor Falls

Thanks to: Agnes and Jan

The Ebor Falls is also located in NSW at the Guy Fawkes River National Park.

This park boasts everlasting daisies that bloom around the upper falls and rare ground orchids that flower in the warmer late spring and summer days. Ebor Falls has the best grassy woodland picnic areas where you, if you are lucky, can spot a wedge-tailed eagle. To go for the full experience of this wonderful waterfall landscape, you could camp out at Cathedral Rock National!

Wentworth falls

Thanks to: Running Wild

This is not just one waterfall, but this is an area filled with waterfalls, how cool is that! It is located in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney in Australia’s New South Wales. The Blue Mountains are called blue, because of the eucalyptus tree. The oil on the leaves rises with the dew in the morning. When the light of the sun breaks in the drops, it colours blue! To go to the Blue Mountains you could take a tour, or just drive yourself. It is about 2 hours from the centre of Sydney. If you go by tour, which we recommend, you will hear about all the special stories about the Blue Mountains and more. There are several hikes you could take from 20 minutes up to 7 hours! You will be overwhelmed with the beauty of this area and you might as well just take a track from 4 hours or more, it is definitely worth it! So don't forget your lunch, water and comfortable shoes if you are heading to the Blue Mountains!

Waterfalls in Victoria

Erskine Falls

Thanks to: Fly Fishing Victoria

When we go a bit more down on the map, we end up in Victoria. The Erskine Falls is just 30 meters high, but you will feel like Alice in Wonderland! The 30-meter falls are always attractive, even when there is just a little bit of water tumbling into the pool below. The walk to the first lookout point is really easy; just 5 minutes walk from the parking place. This first place will provide you from a spectacular view of the falls. The steep climb down goes to the second lookout and is a bit more strenuous, but totally worth it for the view!

Waterfalls in South Australia

Waterfall Gully

Thanks to: Viator, World of waterfalls, Wotif, SciBlog

Along the Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty, there are not one, not two but six waterfalls to be found! The hike is quite popular and the first falls are the most spectacular, plus easiest to access from the carpark. You will hike about 3.9 kilometres (return) to see them all, and it will take you about 1.5 - 3 hours.  

Waterfalls in Western Australia

Horizontal Falls

Thanks to: Turu

Last but not least, the West side of Australia brings us to the Horizontal Falls! Horizontal Falls is not just a waterfall... actually, we still don’t know if it is an actual waterfall since that it still up for discussion. But in the end, it doesn't matter what it is, it still fits in the top 10 best waterfalls in Australia.

They are formed from a break in-between the McLarty Ranges, reaching up to 25m in width! The natural phenomenon is happening because on one side of the gaps, seawater builds up faster than on the other side. This creates a waterfall up to 5 meters (!) on a spring tide! Another phenomenon is that when the tides change, the direction of the falls reverses and huge tidal waves are created. A funny fact about the falls is that the name came from the TV naturalist, David Attenborough, seeking to find a suitable description for the phenomena. If you want to get up close, you should visit a tour operator since you can only visit the waterfall on a plane or in a boat!

All together:

These were just 10 waterfalls, but Australia has roughly over 250 other waterfalls! Don’t let this list limitate you, but let it expand your view on where you could visit a great waterfall! Cheers!