Basket Swamp Falls is tucked away in the rugged beauty inside Basket Swamp National Park of northern New South Wales. It’s a multi-tiered waterfall system that rewards the adventurous with tranquil rock pools, dramatic granite outcrops, and a sense of untouched wilderness.
Basket Swamp National Park is quieter than the other close national parks, Boonoo Boonoo National Park and Bald Rock National Park. The tracks are not difficult to drive on but they are 4wd access, with clearance needed for whoop-de-doo mounds along the way. There were a couple of sections with deep ruts that were easy enough in the dry but could be more challenging if it became slippery while raining or there had been recent rain.
Once you reach the area to view the falls, it is separated into two main sections. The first is where the brown sign leads you, with a small parking area and a rickety wooden picnic table. This is right beside the rock pools section of Basket Swamp Falls, with lots of spots to explore. It was easy enough to hop around the rocks without getting our feet wet, but in warmer months the cool water would be appreciated. There are shallow sections for younger ones too, but they will still need close supervision.
There seemed to be another waterfall upstream, having spotted something while on the track driving to the parking area. There is no clear path (maintained nor unmaintained) and with a few snakes spotted, I thought it best not to explore further.
Downstream, there are a couple of step-downs with waterholes. They are not directly accessible but there are narrow unmaintained tracks along the bank that takes you down to them. There is a small amount of scrambling but otherwise easy to get there. This gives you a different perspective of the Basket Swamp Falls, including one part where water was shooting out of the rocks that must have found a path through cracks in the large granite rock outcrops. With the right amount of water there, it would be like a natural spa jet.
The second section is where the main feature photo is taken from the below the falls, which requires a walk down a 4wd track, then a walk back along the creek towards the falls. We drove down to this part, finding there is only enough parking for one or two vehicles at most. There isn’t a lot of room to turn around to head back and the parking space is needed to be able to turn around. The other option is to continue on the track to find a better spot to turn but you will need to go over a small creek crossing. It isn’t deep but our bullbar hit the bottom coming off the rock step into the creek. It isn’t extreme but can easily worry those who are not experienced, or possibly their passengers.
Luckily there was no one else parked there, otherwise we would have to return to the first part and walk down anyway. The bottom of Basket Swamp Falls can be seen quickly from where we parked. Like the upper section, there is an unmaintained path leading towards the falls that got us closer. Spray from the falls was blowing over me. The falls were a little dark in the afternoon sun but was still great looking at them.