Where Water and Forest Meet at Mathinna Falls

Overview

Mathinna Falls Forest Reserve sits in Tasmania’s north-east, near the former mining settlement of Mathinna and within reach of Launceston for a day trip into the hills. It is one of the state forest reserves, a kind of public forest managed for recreation and conservation as well as broader forest use, and it is best known for its waterfall setting in a rugged, well-timbered part of the region.

The reserve is not a large, built-up park with many different precincts. Its appeal is more focused than that. You come here for a compact slice of north-eastern forest country where running water, steep slopes and shady vegetation shape the whole feel of the place.

Highlights

The standout feature here is the falls themselves, where water drops through a tight forested gully and gives the reserve its sense of enclosure and coolness. The surrounding landscape has the character typical of the Mathinna district, with steep ridges and slopes formed on old sandstone and mudstone country, which helps explain the reserve’s tucked-away, folded scenery.

What makes Mathinna Falls memorable is the contrast between the darker, sheltered creek line and the drier forested country around it. In a relatively small area, the scenery shifts from open forest to damper pockets of ferny, more enclosed vegetation, giving the reserve a distinctly north-eastern Tasmanian feel.

Best Time to Visit

Mathinna Falls is usually at its best in the cooler months and through spring, when rainfall tends to keep the creek and the forest looking fresh and the falls running well. Summer can still be pleasant, especially under the trees, but the reserve’s character depends a lot on recent rain, so the waterfall may feel less dramatic in drier periods.

Plants and Animals

The reserve’s forests sit in a part of north-eastern Tasmania where eucalypt forest dominates, with wetter and more sheltered pockets supporting mixed forest and rainforest species. In this kind of country, you can expect the vegetation to change with slope, drainage and exposure, from drier open forest on the ridges to denser growth in gullies and along the watercourse.

This broader forest belt is also important habitat for native wildlife, particularly species that rely on moist, shaded ground layers and undisturbed creek-side cover. The reserve’s combination of forest and freshwater habitat is a big part of its value, even though the falls are what most people remember first.