Split Rock and Shower Cave Falls Sat. 10th September 2016

Once again, we have had to change walk plans because roads closed by flood damage in May have still not re-opened, so there is no road access to the Moses Creek area. Your leader instead offers a short but steep walk in the Meander area to some very pretty falls high above the Meander River valley.
From the Meander Falls car park (altitude 600m), the track crosses the river by a suspension bridge, and then climbs steadily westwards up what is known as the Cleft Rock track, often referred to as Split Rock. After about 1 km of steady climbing, a diversion to the left follows the course of the creek on which both falls are found. Shower Cave Falls (alt. 830m) can be found about 200m on from the diversion, and Split Rock Falls (alt. 900m) less than 200m further on. Depending on time and the energy of the party, further exploration of the area is possible.
The walk is rated medium due to the steep and at times rough nature of the track, and the possibility of cold and wet conditions. It should be suitable for energetic and resilient children, but please consult with walk leader.

Meeting Times and Places:
If you are interested in going on this walk, please phone Kent Lillico on 0428 451 528. The departure time is 7:45 am from Door of Hope car park. Alternative meeting place: Deloraine 8:15 am. Check with leader for meeting spot. If you wish to meet with the group at any other place, please arrange with the leader. However, you still need to contact the walk leader, if intending to walk. The leader should be notified of any other people you intend to bring along. Please be at any meeting place 5 minutes ahead of departure time.

To access this area from northern Tasmania: From Launceston, head towards Deloraine on the Bass Highway (50 km) and take the first (eastern) turn from the highway into Deloraine. Continue into the town and turn left immediately before the bridge (meeting place - see above).
From Deloraine, head south along the "Lake Highway" - now Highland Lakes Rd. (but the first bit may be called Meander Rd!). Make sure you stay on Meander Rd and go straight ahead (DON'T turn left) at 7 km from Deloraine, where there is a signposted junction for Highland Lakes Rd. Continue a further 9 km to Meander and continue through the town. After about 6 km, the road swings right. About 2.5 km further, the road turns south and crosses the first of the new bridges (Smoko Creek), followed shortly by the 2nd bridge which takes you across the Meander R. Less than 3 km further, you will reach the Meander Falls car park and the beginning of the  walking track.

Warnings:
  The following codes [from our 2016 walks calendar] apply:
     S    Steep incline for at least part of the way
     M    Marshy or muddy sections be prepared to walk with wet feet.
    E     Exposed alpine conditions ; can be dangerous in poor weather if not adequately equipped; see www.sutas.org.au/bush-walking/bush-walking for some guidelines.

Unsure of equipment requirements? Visit the Boots N' All section of the sutas.org.au website per link above and read "Clothing suggestions for exposed conditions"

Map details:

Split Rock Falls area: 1:100000 map is Meander (Tasmap 8214) and 1:25000 map is Quamby Bluff (Tasmap 4638)
Map references:
Short ref. n/a

Split Rock Falls:
Zone      Easting        Northing   
55G      4 61 073    53 80 546  

No peakbagger points will be visited on this walk. For listing of peakbagger points, see the Hobart Walking Club Peakbagger's Guide (2000 revision) which can be downloaded (Excel) from http://tastracks.webs.com/peakbaggers.htm  The same web page contains several other listings of Tasmanian peaks.

GPX version of the track: Click here to download. Google Earth version of the track: Click here to download.
Right-click on the file and save target as to a location of your choice. (Suggest you click the Last modified at top to sort by date to get the most recent at top to find the file for the next walk).