Well worth a day trip is Trentham Falls and the Railway Station. And if coming in from Melbourne, the bakery at Woodend is a must to stop at! Trentham is a little town with a population of 1,411 nestled at the top of the Great Dividing Range. It’s halfway between Woodend and Daylesford and is an easy one hour from Melbourne up the Calder Hwy. The Falls are just a couple of kms out of town. On Sunday, we were there, the carpark was packed, and people were constantly coming and going.

The Falls

The falls flowed well when we visited in August. They are only a short 70-metre (downhill) walk from the carpark. The lookout above the falls is quite good. It formed millions of years ago from molten lava rapidly cooling along the river. They are Victoria’s highest single-drop waterfall, plunging 32 metres into the quartz riverbed below. The Trentham website called it the ‘former’ river, but there was a river flowing the day we were there. I had planned on setting the tripod up in front of the base of the falls. But the water was too deep.

The track to the base of the falls is ‘closed’  with signs of unstable cliffs, but that stopped no one. The barrier is about 2ft high, and no impediment to stepping over or around. So we followed the goat track to the base of the falls and spent a pleasant half-hour down there among the mist, hitting the rocks,  photographing the falls and the river. Going back up was a little more complicated. I felt like a veritable explorer. Until I saw a man with his pregnant wife and small son strolling down the goat track!

Trentham Railway Station

Leaving the falls, we headed into Trentham to visit the historic railway station.   The station was built in 1880 but closed in the 1970s. It has been restored with some rolling stock and buildings open as a railway museum. A small market is held there on Sundays.

As it was now mid-afternoon,  we decided to head back to Woodend for afternoon tea before heading back to Melbourne. After walking uphill and down dale at the falls, then around the station, we were well and truly ready for a sit-down and cuppa!

Looking for more victorian waterfalls? Check out HERE