Dangar Falls

Dangar Falls is located just outside of the town of Dorrigo, which is between Coffs Harbour and Armidale in northern NSW. It is part of the area known as Waterfall Way, which as indicated by its name, has many spectacular waterfalls on display. Because we were popping in for an afternoon, we only stopped at a few of the waterfalls (which means there is more for next time!) and they were both very beautiful. But today I want to talk about my visit to Dangar Falls.

This was part of my road trip with my mum and my brother and we were keen for a quick swim before we continued on our way. After doing some research, I found that Dangar Falls was highly recommended, so we added it to the agenda for the day. When we got to the carpark it was almost completely full – many people were out and about enjoying the day. Before getting changed into my swimmers I went and checked out the view of the waterfall from the lookout and it was pretty spectacular! The waterfall was much wider and the pool below it was also much bigger than I was expecting. After getting changed we headed down the short hill to the pool at the bottom and although we were still excited for a swim, when our toes touched the water and felt the chill there was definitely a moment of hesitation.

I am the generally (not always!) the kind of person that likes to just dive in rather than easing myself in slowly. I like to get the shock over and done with so that my body can adjust to the change. So I was the first one to jump in and boy was it cold!

We made our way toward the waterfall, but the current was really strong and we had to skirt around the outside of it. It was making waves – it felt like I was swimming at the beach past the surf, where there are the gentle waves, but still coming steady and strong. We managed to make our way to the side of the pool and then picked our way along until we were behind the waterfall. There is actually quite a large space behind the waterfall that you can reach, and it is so spectacular to look out through the screen of the waterfall, to see this sheet of water between you and the rest of the world.

After enjoying the waterfall briefly, we made our way back to the shore and then headed back up to the car. Although it was a very short swim, it was probably one of my favourites of the whole road trip. I loved the fact that pool was so big and that it was a mini wave pool, that we were able to swim behind the waterfall.

I would highly recommend a visit to this waterfall to anyone in the area, whether you want to go for a swim, or just enjoy the view from the top lookout.