Hiking journal #001: Clover Hill trail

Jul 24

Date: 19th July, 2020
Trail: Clover Hill trail

Grade 5

Where: Macquarie Pass National Park, NSW

On the 19th of July 2020, my girlfriend Steph and I decided to hike the Clover Hill trail. I had done some research and it really gained my interest with the waterfall at the end. A huge pull was the large pool of water at the bottom and the waterfall being pretty high with a single drop. I somewhat can compare it to Belmore falls. From start to finish it took us about 3 and a half hours, though it could be done quicker. We didn’t bring any food, just a bottle of water for each of us and my backpack and camera gear.

The trail head is a small little opening on the clover hill road in the Macquarie Pass National Park. Getting there can be difficult if you are heading east bound as the road is narrow, two lanes and very curvy. On top of the lack of vision, there is limited spots to park (potentially up to about 8) and we did see some people park on the ‘main’ road.

The trail starts off as a super easy fire trail walk for about 75% of it. The out and back track is 7.1km long with an estimated incline of 247m. We used AllTrails to recording and navigate when required. The walk is pretty pleasant but gets better from the second half onwards with nice open areas showing the escarpment and views of the Illawarra region.

The last part of trying to get to the last waterfall is where it may be challenging for some. Due to many people trying to find their own way in different directions, there are quite a few worn paths to potentially choose from to follow. We stumbled upon on few people trying to get there and us ourselves got stuck for about 15 minutes until we gambled on this very slippery but mildly worn rock scramble. We later on figured that this is a solid path towards the final waterfall.

When we found the waterfall we were relieved and amazed. It was a serene experience to be in such a beautiful place with no people around. We plan to return to this spot in warmer temperatures to swim in the pool of water at the bottom of the waterfall.

On the return, we didn’t follow our exact pathway back. We found a less intense route and managed to get out much faster than we had going in.