St. Columba Falls

• 0 mins drive from Bayside Hotel

• https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/articles/st-columba-falls-reserve

St Columba Falls State Reserve features beautiful forests and the cascading waters of the South George River that plunge over steep granite ledges. Surrounded by densely wooded hills, this reserve contains forests of tree ferns, sassafras, myrtles and beech, and provides a massive water catchment that flows year round.

The area was prime habitat for Tasmanian Tigers, once Australia’s largest carnivorous marsupial, and long presumed extinct. The locals, however, will have you believe they’re still around, with dozens of reported sightings every year. More likely, keep your eyes peeled for the elusive platypuses that burrow along the banks of the reserve’s creeks.

A perfect stopping point for a rest stop, the reserve has a picnic area with views of St Columba Falls. A short walking track through the forest leads to a viewing platform at the base of the falls.

The intake bridge of an old water race is located just off the approach road to the falls and marks the starting point of a 45 km channel that was constructed in the early 1930s to supply water for tin mining near St Helens.

Further down the road is the Halls Falls walking track, a 90-minute return stroll through a dense forest of towering eucalyptus trees and centuries-old ferns to an historic weir built by timber workers in the late 19th century.

Nearby are the beautiful forests of the Blue Tier and the Trail of the Tin Dragon Chinese mining heritage route.

St Columba Falls State Reserve is about 25 kilometres west of St Helens on Tasmania’s East Coast.