Clover Hill Road
Details
Clover Hill Road is a trail found in the Macquarie Pass National Park roughly half way down the pass. There is a carpark in which you can park your car, although there are limited spaces and no overflow parking is available. It's important to mention at the start of the trip that you are heading into rainforest conditions so pack salt as a precaution against leeches and insect repellent.
From the carpark you will need to head past the locked gate and follow the trail down the trail. As you walk down you will see a few marked paths that veer off this track, some of which lead to Jump Rock. The path changes from a rainforest to cleared fields in sections which used to be old farm house. You will see a fence to your right while walking, a cleared path will lead you to the remnants of the house which no longer stands. Foundations of the house still remain if you have time to spare, its worth checking out.
As you head further down the path you will come to a section of the trail which had two paths you can take. One continues straight and becomes narrow and the other is to your right(Pictured below) and starts to descend. After following the path to your right for around 100metres, you will be able to hear water rushing which is confirmation you are getting close to the first falls.
Take the trail to the right of the photo.
You will reach the stream shortly after where there will be a small cascade of water flowing down known as rainbow falls. This spot offers great photo opportunities before you cross the river. Just past these falls you will see a section that has large pieces of broken concrete which allows for you to cross the river to continue following the trail. As soon as you cross the river urn right onto the path, this next section of the track does become a little tougher as the tracks are no longer well defined. Leaf scatter covers the worn in paths making it a little difficult to be sure of where you are headed. In some sections you will be able to see some ribbons on the trees to indicate you are on the right path.
Following the river up-stream you will start to ascend up hill. The soil on the path is rather loose so you may slide in some sections of the track, wearing the correct footwear is a must. Following the path up, you will see some trails leading back down to the water. There should be 3 of these sections along the track each leading you to a different set of falls. Take these paths down to the water for optimum photo opportunities or a nice place to swim. Return back to the initial path to move further along the track that mostly follows the river upstream. You can follow right along the water however it is more difficult as there are small cliffs.
Mulangong falls is one of the waterfalls you are expected to see on this walk, a lovely water fall with water cascading down the steps of rocks(the second image in the gallery below). The final and largest waterfall of this walk it not far up stream from mulangong falls, however it is the most difficult part of the track and the reason why this article is not posted as a walk, From mulangong falls you will need to work your way back into the forest and find your way through the forest. There is no track from here as most people turn around at the point and miss out on the nicest part of this area. There are a few pink ribbons on some of the trees that you can use to help guide you, however they can be difficult to spot at times leaving you to try and work your way through. Since there is no actual track through here please take care and try to reduce your impact on the environment that you're hiking through. The track then leads to an outstanding waterfall Clover falls, pictured as the first image in the gallery below and also set as this article's feature image.
Special thanks to Hayden at Hayden Mclean photography, for showing us the way out there.
Someone told me you need to prebook tickets to do the walk.
Is that right?
No, that is not correct. However some organisations do take people canyoning through this area, which if probably what they meant.
Do you have any idea about who lived in the farm house in clover hill road? An ancestor, phibbs alexander cowan, lived in a road by that name back in the mid-1850’s but there is another clover hill road south-east of jamberoo and I don’t know in which one he lived.
After his marriage, phibbs and his family settled near jerra, where he died. His family resettled out west but a son, robert cowan, returned to clover hill road, where he died in 1898, with his death reigistered in moss vale. I know macquarie pass was opened then and there was access to moss vale. I wondered if robert cowan was living in the farm in clover hill road which branches off macquarie pass?
Sandra stanley
The house on this clover hill road (now just a slab remains), was built and occupied by a Ben Turner in 1950. You can read more about it here: Ben Turner and Clover Hill
Thank you. I thought I had found an otherwise unknown residence of the Cowan family and was a little disappointed when I
found they must have lived on Clover Hill Road, Jamberoo, afterall. Still it did solve the mystery.
I read the blog about Ben Turner, and his beautiful home, and thought it was a wonderful, quiet, place to live.
There are two car parks left and right and aso another one up the road onto your left??. Which one should we park at ??
There is only one car park for this walk, it is located at the map pin marker above.
Just completed this today, solo! Thank you so much for the directions I almost got lost on the way and helped a few people on the way as well :).