The Wollangambe River is spectacular, with majestic canyon walls and clear water in a variety of shades from electric blue to dazzling emerald.
To walk and wade through its clear waters offers the chance to wander an ancient landscape, untouched by the human hand, where the chance of bumping into someone feels almost impossible.
The stretch of river we are covering in this guide is an easy adventure, yet generally very quiet. We visited on a hot sunny day in January and aside from the entry and exit tracks, we didn’t see another soul.
It doesn’t have the long swims, or narrow slots of the celebrated Wollangambe One section of the river (though you can include some of the best swims very easily), but it doesn’t have the tricky scrambles and choked up areas either.
It’s a leisurely trip and I loved that I could linger everywhere I wanted to, basking on beaches and relaxing in the cool water without ever needing to be mindful of time. If that sounds up your street, here’s what to expect on the route.
The Wollangambe River Walk
The stats
Distance: 7.1km circuit
Elevation gain: 350m
Difficulty: Moderate
Trailhead: Mount Wilson Fire Station
Summary: Both the entry and exit tracks for this section of the Wollangambe are on maintained paths. There is the usual big descent and ascent involved, but you don’t need to worry about tricky terrain.
There is one minor scramble on the exit, but it’s very easy with excellent hand and footholds, no exposure and only a few steps long.
When it comes to traversing the canyon there are very few mandatory swims and no long swims whatsoever. There are rocks, logs and cascades to climb over, but none of them are sustained or tricky like you’ll find in other canyons in the area.
Once or twice you will need to scout which side of the rocks you prefer, but the scrambling is very easy by canyoning standards (much more so than the Joe’s Canyon loop for example, which is probably the next easiest canyon in the area).
It’s also a relatively short section of canyon so you can really take your time knowing you’re not against the clock.
Canyon safety and advice for wetsuits and floaties
The most important thing to consider for this adventure is the weather. You want a dry day where no rain is predicted and you don’t want there to have been recent heavy rains or the water levels will be up in the river, making the going tougher. Very high water levels can be dangerous in canyons.
Ideally you want to pick a nice hot sunny day to help keep warm and it doesn’t hurt that the water colour will be especially beautiful in the sunshine.
Unlike every other canyon we’ve done in this area, I do not consider a wetsuit mandatory - unless you know you are someone that really feels the cold, or you do not pick a hot day in summer. There is very little swimming involved and few sections that require wading are deep.
Joe tends to get very cold and did not use a wetsuit, which I think is a fairly good indicator of how the average person may feel (for reference Joe has used a wetsuit in every other canyon but Dalpura).
This advice is dependent on visiting on a hot day, ideally in the 30s with low wind and you knowing your own body, and how you fair in different temperatures. If in any doubt whatsoever, you should carry a wetsuit as a back up.
Personally, I was toasty throughout and would have felt stifled in a wetsuit.
I would not recommend a floatie for this adventure, there are so few points you could use it that it’s simply not worth it, it will simply be a pain for 99% of the time.
No wetsuit and no floatie means you can travel fast and light, or slow and light as we did, allowing oodles of time for soaking up the stunning surrounds.
There will be limited to no phone signal along the route, so we recommending carrying a PLB.
The route
The stretch of the river covered in this guide is between the Wollangambe River entry track (the path you would use to exit the Joes Canyon Loop) and Horseshoe Bend (the most often used entry point for the Wollangambe One Canyon).
While some people do add on the section of the Wollangambe we are doing as a stand alone in this guide to the Wollangambe One route, most people do not.
It works well as an easy half day adventure as we did, or if you’re super keen you can add it on to the W1, making for a much longer day (likely more than 8 hours).
Our watch measured the canyon section to be about 1.6km long, but it never tracks accurately in canyons and based on our map, we believe it to be closer to 1.2km. However, it’s still slower going than a normal hiking track as you are going through water, with the occasional swim and rocks to scramble round. You also need to walk 3.2km to the start of the river and 2.7km to exit the river.
The Wollangambe River entry track
Distance: 3.2km
From the Mount Wilson Fire Station (full parking details below) there’s a short dirt trail that joins the Merewether Fire Trail heading north, following the sign for the “Wollangambe Walking Track”.
The wide flat path runs between gorgeous tree ferns for the first 250m. You’ll then reach a sign mentioning that gear is required for canyoning (this does not relate to the section of canyon we are covering in this guide).
You’ll head left here, following a wide fire trail uphill for 400m.
The track will then briefly flatten before heading downhill. You’ll reach a signposted junction 150m later and head right. Roughly 70m further along you’ll reach another signpost and head left, following for the Wollangambe River Horseshoe Bend.
The track now narrows and though the path underfoot is always clear, some of the plants do encroach a little, making it a bit scratchy.
The good dirt path continues downhill, with the occasional flat section before reaching a series of stairs, at around the 1.6km mark.
Reaching the river
When you reach the stairs you’ll see another signpost and after 500m you’ll start to get some big open views and the trail curves right, beside a pagoda (just over 2km into the trail).
After another 50m you’ll see a signpost and head left, still following for the Wollangambe River.
There’s another large pagoda beside the trail and you’ll pass alongside it on a brief rocky section of track before it’s a smooth path once again.
Just over 2.3km into the walk you will reach another junction and again follow the signpost for Wollangambe River.
The path will then flatten for a time before you begin descending again, but less steeply.
At the 2.9km mark, on the left, there’s a gorgeous open view which offers a great photo op before you continue descending towards the river.
At the 3.1km mark bear left at the fork and you will arrive at the river 150m later.
It’s a touch steeper towards the end of the track, on a bushier path, but you only really need to take care on the final few metres where there is some flood debris build up.
Since we last walked this track there’s a little path that’s been worn in on sand to the left of the debris which offers shallow access to the river and you no longer need to walk on the large fallen log.
The final step down to the river is an easy hop over some small logs and then you will reach a very shallow part of the river (barely ankle deep with lots of exposed sand that has no water at all).
Through the canyon to Artists Palette Pool
As mentioned, this next section through the canyon is impossible to accurately measure on our watch. It read as 1.6km, though based on the map we think it’s more like 1.2km. It’s worth remembering it takes a lot longer to traverse any distance in a canyon than it does on a maintained walking track.
Once you reach the river you want to continue straight (north), or right depending on how you view it (left would take you towards Bell Creek and Joe’s Canyon). The water gets deeper quickly and there’s a short (few strokes) of mandatory swimming around 100m in.
What follows is a shallow/dry creek walk beneath some of the most spectacular canyon walls I’ve seen. They are simply huge and make for a seriously impressive start to the hike. There are a few sets of rocks and boulders up next, but with easy workarounds on the left side which makes them easy to negotiate.
The water deepens a little, to knee height, before you arrive at a log jam a couple of hundred metres later (remembering the distance won’t be accurate, though your watch may measure it similarly).
The log jam can be avoided by taking the worn path on the right, out of the water and onto the riverbank. It’s bushy but still easy to get through. The exit back to the water 50m later is a little steep, but on a dirt track that is easy enough to get down.
You will come out to a little sandy beach and one of our favourite pools on the track, Artists Palette.
Artists Palette Pool to Horseshoe Bend
Artists Palette Pool is beautiful, with deep blue water beside a fern covered cliff. It’s not overly deep, but more than deep enough to swim, with constant water droplets that felt like swimming in the rain. Though these were big fat droplets that looked like bubbles!
It’s a really fun spot and both the colour of the water and the cliff wall is mesmerising.
There’s a couple of easy rocks to climb over next and then a short mandatory swim.
The water here is a vibrant blue in the sunshine and though it’s only a small pool it’s a gorgeous spot for a swim. There’s a tiny sand beach beside it if you want to linger. And that’s what I loved so much about this adventure, it was such a manageable length that I felt I could take as long as I wanted throughout.
After a short swim in a somewhat narrow (ish) canyon-y section the walls open up. There’s a little bit of scrambling over boulders and logs next, but nothing challenging.
Around 150m later you’ll arrive at a split in the river. Take the right fork through the shallow water to avoid the dry route which is through scrub. The water is shallow and there’s one easy cascade to step over.
You’ll then reach some big walls and I was so taken by their incredible majesty that I turned to yell back to Joe how amazing it was while still walking forwards into a big log! A good reminder that you need to pay attention even in an easy canyon : )
It’s beside these gigantic walls that you will find our favourite beach. The sand is red hot in the sun, but there’s some shade offered by the bush behind and a little log to sit on.
It’s simply spectacular, with sand that’s almost white under the full sun, a lazy stretch of emerald river and those towering walls that have all the wow factor.
Some of the colours and shapes almost look like Aboriginal art, but it’s all the hand of Mother Nature.
The river here is deep enough to swim, though only a few strokes are mandatory to swim as much of it can be traversed on the sand bank. A short swim/wade will bring you out to another pool.
It’s surrounded by rock walls reminiscent of the Gardens of Stone and would be great for swimming, but for the fact it seemed to be in a wind tunnel.
I had been harping on to Joe all day about how lucky we were that there wasn’t a breath of wind anywhere in the canyon until we got to this spot! Anyhow it didn’t matter as I had enjoyed a few swims in the different pools up to this point.
From here you could go one of two ways and both are easy and join up very soon after. We took the right fork, through the shallow water which has just a couple of rocks to step over before you reach the grand finale.
And when I say grand, it’s not grand in the sense of a narrow slot, or exceptional walls, though the cliffs are pretty. It’s more the sudden change in scenery from canyon, to forest.
But it’s no ordinary forest, it’s a forest where you wander through very shallow water enclosed by trees and just a little glimpse of the cliff walls behind. It’s a storybook setting made all the more special by the chime of the bellbirds and the flash of an Azure kingfisher.
And just as I felt at the end of the Joes Canyon Loop, I didn’t want it to end. And happily this time it didn’t have to because you can add on a short and utterly sublime part of the Wollangambe One for almost no extra effort.
A 5 minute detour to one of the best pools on the Wollangambe
You only have around 100m of walking through the forest before you reach the exit track from the Wollangambe River (the usual Wollangambe One entry point).
However, less than 5 minutes beyond this exit is the start of the Wollangambe One and a truly glorious slot canyon pool.
From the bend in the river you go past the exit track (sticking to the river) and almost immediately need to climb down one cascade (which is easy). Last time we slid gently off the large rock, but this time I walked up to the cascade and then climbed onto the rock to its right. It has two large rocks with perfect foot indentations and from here you can just step into the water. There’s then a very brief swim to reach the start of the slot.
Last time we were here the water level was higher and I didn’t much notice the logs in the pool just before the slot. This time, with much lower water levels, I had to glide over them. The big fat trunk required gliding over on my stomach while the skinny ones could be stepped over. It’s all easy even in shallow water but just watch out for them so you don’t take a bump.
You will then reach the jaw-dropping narrow slot swim. The water is sensational whether high or low and the iridescent emerald colour was the same both times we visited despite the difference in water levels. The walls are high and relatively narrow and the water is deep enough to swim all the way through with ease.
You could continue for several hundred metres beyond the slot, past small beaches with more deep emerald pools (though wider walls) before you reach the first boulder scramble.
If you’re like me and love swimming, this would be the cherry on top of a really great trip, as the one downside to the earlier stretch of the river is the lack of deep pools.
You would then retrace your steps back to the exit track.
The exit track
Distance: 2.7km
Your exit is along the most often used entry point to the Wollangambe One and as such is in pretty good shape. There are some minor flat sections but the majority of the walk is uphill and it’s a fairly hefty climb, it’s made easier by the fact you haven’t had a really exerting time in the canyon itself.
You’ll climb up onto the riverbank on the right side of the bend and will almost immediately start heading uphill.
It’s a mix of dirt track and stairs which are covered in leaf litter and bark, but are fine when going uphill. After 260m you will reach the scramble. It might look slightly more involved in the photo, but in reality, it’s a few steps up well tiered rock with great handholds and no exposure.
The track then returns to a mix of dirt path and stairs up to the 700m mark and the junction with Joes Canyon. The path is regularly signposted and you will always be following for the ‘Mount Wilson Fire Staton’.
From here the track is a bit of stair master, but with some lovely views over the cliffs and forest.
It’s always fun to look back on where you’ve come from and it feels gratifyingly far away pretty quickly due to the steep nature of the track.
At the 1.2km mark the stairs give way to a narrow dirt path through the bush. It’s a touch scratchy in places but always easy to follow.
You’ll follow this path uphill for 770m until you reach the fire trail and again the fire station is signposted. You’re now 800m from the parking area, with the last 650m being flat or downhill.
Getting to the trailhead for the Wollangambe River Walk
The walk to the Wollangambe River begins at the Wollangambe parking area beside the Fire Station in Mount Wilson, you can see it here on Google maps.
You’ll find plenty of free parking in the designated car park. It’s around 40km and a 40 minute drive from Katoomba, 32km and a 30 minute drive from Bilpin and 122km and a 2 hour drive from Sydney.
There is a public toilet at the fire station, but nowhere else along the trail, please plan accordingly.
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