The Tonalli Gorge Pools are one of Yerranderie’s best kept secrets. The spectacular Tonalli River has a series of deep pockets of water set against rugged rock walls that make up the picturesque gorge pools. Though much of the river is shallow, there are many pools along the river’s length, in this guide we’re sharing two which are fairly easy to reach. Here you’ll find clear aqua water and ferny cliffs that wouldn’t look out of place in some of the Blue Mountains stunning slot canyons.
You are all but guaranteed perfect serenity, the chance of running into another soul, almost laughably unlikely. It’s wild, remote and beautiful.
Here’s how to find them.
The Tonalli Gorge Pools
A note on visiting safety
The Tonalli Gorge Pools are located in Yerranderie which has no phone signal and the section of the river the pools are located on sees very low footfall.
There are no signposts and no path past the first pool. It would be wise to carry a PLB in case of emergency. Though the walk is not particularly difficult, if you did run into any problems you need to be able to raise the alarm.
The access road
I don’t normally start with driving details but in the case of Yerranderie it makes sense to. Reaching Yerranderie requires driving for 63km down an unsealed road (via the Oberon-Colong stock route). It is not a 4WD road unless it’s wet or there has been very severe weather. However, not everyone will feel comfortable taking a 2WD along this road.
There are some ups and downs, though no very steep sections and the road surface is generally quite good. Occasionally there is an unfenced drop to the left but the road is not narrow. There are 4 fords to cross and a few rocky puddles.
My advice if you’re planning to visit in a 2WD or you’re not sure about unsealed roads in general, is to ring the Oberon branch of the NSW Parks Service. I rang them twice before visiting (the first time our plans fell through) and they were brilliant. They know the current conditions of the road and can give you an accurate assessment to help you decide. If concerned you could try to aim for when the road has been more recently regraded.
For us the road was so much better than I’d been expecting, with no difficult terrain at all. Not dissimilar to the road out to Walls Lookout in Kanangra, but with a few hills thrown in and the odd rocky patch. Although the majority of cars we saw out at Yerranderie were SUV/4WD’s, we also saw a van and they didn’t have trouble. But as I say, a call to the Oberon office will be by far your best way to understand current conditions on the road.
If you’re not staying the night, it’s a long day trip from anywhere, taking around 3 hours 10 from Katoomba and 4.5 hours from Sydney. If you’re going all that way, we’d recommend spending the night in the campground or one of the rustic NSW parks service cabins and making a weekend of it.
The walk to the Tonalli Gorge Pools
The stats
Distance: 3.4km return
Elevation gain: 88m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: Yerranderie Cemetary
Summary: Everyone will have to walk part of the fire trail down to the river as there is a locked gate preventing access to the closest parking point. If you have a 4WD you can get all the way to the locked gate, but access is manageable with a 2WD simply by walking for a little extra distance along the fire trail.
There is one short steep descent (on fire trail) and then a very short (50m) stretch in the bush to reach the river. When continuing downstream there are no paths. It’s a mix of walking along the rocky creek banks, over some patches of rocks, through the creek and around minor amounts of debris.
Despite this, it’s one of the easier creek walks we’ve done and nothing like some of the more choked up creeks you might have walked through in the Blue Mountains canyons.
Starting the trail: descending the fire trail to the locked gate
If you don’t have a 4WD you are probably best off parking at the Yerranderie Cemetery (you can see it here on Google maps) and walking the fire trail. There are stones and many tree branches that would make driving it a bit of a risk with low clearance.
Some gung-ho drivers will have no problem with it, so it’s really up to you. You don’t need an actual 4WD, but an SUV with some clearance is ideal.
The very last section before the locked gate is slightly steeper. If heading for the locked gate, the coordinates are -34.097953, 150.2269575.
Note that there is only room for two cars to park here, though I can’t imagine it ever gets busy! Please remember not to block the fire trail.
If you start at the cemetery you will walk for approximately 850m to the locked gate. It’s a mix of flat track, some gentle descent and a very short steeper section at the end. It’s pretty easy walking the whole way.
The final descent to the river
From the locked gate everyone will walk the final 325m of the fire trail to reach the river. This section is much steeper and very uneven underfoot. Despite this, as it’s mainly rocks and branches, it wasn’t as slippery as those steep gravel fire trails, so overall it wasn’t too bad, though I walked down sideways for better stability some of the time.
You’ll reach a dead end turning circle and you need to look for the worn grassy track leading into the bush from the left side of the road.
Follow this path for 50m gently downhill through the bush and you will come to the river. This bushy section is slightly enclosed, but it was by no means thick or scratchy on our visit.
You will arrive at a stony river bank 375m after leaving the locked gate or 1.25km from the cemetery.
The first pool, ‘Picnic Pool’
The first pool is right beside where the bush track will bring you out to. It looks very shallow, but it’s deceiving. The water is so clear that you can’t imagine you can swim more than a couple of strokes, when in fact you can swim almost it’s entire length.
There is a shallow section to the right which is good for lazing around in too. It sits beneath a rugged rock wall and depending on the light, shines either emerald green or a vivid blue.
It’s a beautiful spot and to the right of the pool there is a very small sandy area which could be used for picnicking. Otherwise the surrounds are all rocky.
Accessing the water involves stepping into the shallows, which are a little stony underfoot, but then you can swim off almost immediately. It’s not a huge pool by any means, but it’s gloriously clear and the water is surprisingly warm.
We visited in October which is fairly early in the season and it was slightly cool, but definitely not cold, so I imagine in summer it would become quite warm.
The pool is fairly small and if you had to walk the whole fire trail to get there it requires a little bit of an effort, more so than say the Yerranderie Infinity Pool, so this is one for lovers of solitude and those seeking a really remote experience.
Continuing on to the gorge pool
The gorge pool is approximately 500m beyond Picnic Pool, but as there is no track everyone will walk it slightly differently. To reach it, unless you are very creative with your footing, you will need to get your boots wet at some point. As always, I just opt to get wet straight away and avoid any unnecessary rock hopping.
The gorge pool is downstream (right when facing the water) of the first pool and the going is easy by off-track creek walking standards, but somewhat challenging when compared to a proper maintained path.
There is no incline, it’s more about the fact it is uneven footing all the way.
It starts off easily, you’re simply walking along the stony creek bank and then you will reach an area of fallen trees. These are quite easy to duck under. From here I personally chose to walk through the water a lot of the way, skipping between the two different sides of the creek banks when it looked easier to do so. The water was never above knee height and mainly only at ankle height.
The rocks underfoot are generally grippy even when wet, so it’s not comparable to some canyon hikes where the rocks can be very slick. No part of this walk requires scrambling, you’re simply following the creek in the way that feels most comfortable to you.
You occasionally have to climb over a rock or fallen log, but really, it’s relatively cruisy, so long as you are comfortable with the fact the terrain is not smooth at any point.
The Gorge Pool
Of the two pools in this guide, the gorge pool is my favourite. We never saw it in the sun, yet the water was as vibrant emerald as at some of my favourite pools in Royal National Park.
The ferny sandstone cliff wall is very canyon-esque and it feels even more wild and remote than the first pool. It’s the sort of place you would be gobsmacked to come across another soul.
It’s just stunning, the water is gin clear and again, not cold despite the fact it was early October.
You need to step off the river bank onto some rocks in the water which are slightly uncomfortable underfoot for a few seconds, but it’s worth it. As with the first pool you can swim much of the pools length despite the fact it appears very shallow at first.
It’s a gorgeous pool and the canyon-like feel was so unexpected given it’s location.
Continuing further along the creek
We continued for just over 2km along the creek from the gorge pool. The scenery is great, but it does get rougher underfoot in places and none of the pools we came across were bigger, deeper, or more beautiful than the gorge pool, so this is really only going to be for you if you want a longer creek walk, or you go further than we did.
There are certainly bigger pools much further ahead, but it does get more slow going and we didn’t have time to reach them on this occasion. No doubt we will be back one day to see what we missed out on!
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
A little effort goes a long way when it comes to Victoria Falls. The steep but well maintained track will take you to both the base of Victoria Falls and some very pretty cascades, both of which are fantastic wild swimming spots. Here’s everything you need to know, including difficulty and what the pools are like.