Mousetrap Falls Complex

[MickyB]

We attempted to get to the Mousetrap Falls complex, in the Otways, on Friday without success. With fallen trees and tree branches seemingly every ten metres as well as wet and windy conditions our progress was fairly slow. We had an old map which has a track marked as starting near the corner of Forrest-Apollo Bay Rd and Mt Sabine Rd. The track passes the Mousetrap Falls complex as well as Gorgeous Falls and then onto Upper Sabine and Sabine Falls. The track also intersects the Sabine Contour Track. Unfortunately we couldn't find this track from the Forrest-Apollo Bay Rd end and then, after starting at the Sabine Falls end lost the track somewhere near Gorgeous Falls. A few questions. Does anyone know if the track still exists from the Forrest-Apollo Bay Rd end (west) and if so is it marked with tape. Does the Sabine Contour Track still exist? Has anyone been to these falls and have any other advice. Thanks heaps.

[Smeagle]

Sounds like an interesting exploration trip bit of jungle warfare hehe im out that way fairly regularly, never new about that track at all im wondering is if from the apollo bay end does it start off a 4wd track?? and just a thought my directions maybe wrong way around but has the logging near sabine removed this contour track?? i might run threw some maps seeing as its a rainy day

[MickyB]

You could be right Smeagle. I know there is a lot of logging in that area so the contour track may no longer exist. I'll PM you later tonight when I get home with a copy of my map.
There are about a dozen falls that I know of in an area of approx 1km but there is some very steep terrain and some may be inaccessible.

[MickyB]

We finally made it to the Mousetrap Falls complex yesterday. It was our 3rd attempt but the walk was made easier after a couple of people gave us some great advice including a member of this forum who PM'd me with some very helpful info. The walk in was reasonably easy but the terrain got extremely steep near the falls (we needed rope to get down to creek level). There wasn't much water in the creek but I think the falls would look amazing in full flow. The ground was very wet and slippery yesterday so I think it could be a struggle to get in there in the middle winter. There was heaps of trees down including a huge one across one of the main drops as well as another across one of the cascades.

For those interested I have posted some photos in the Gallery section

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14305&p=247410#p247410

[MickyB]

For anyone interested here is an article from The Age newspaper from 2003 about the discovery of the Mousetrap Complex.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/ ... 66667.html

[jp90]

You could be right Smeagle. I know there is a lot of logging in that area so the contour track may no longer exist. I'll PM you later tonight when I get home with a copy of my map.
There are about a dozen falls that I know of in an area of approx 1km but there is some very steep terrain and some may be inaccessible.

Hello. I recently discovered about this 'secret' waterfall and I have become so interested in finding it. Would it be too much of a bother for me to ask for this 'map'? Cheerio.

[MickyB]

Welcome to the forum jp90.

Sorry. Just saw your post. PM sent

[sim1oz]

@MickyB, thanks for the newspaper article link.

Does anyone know if people are still trying to get the Trans-Otway Walk happening?

[MickyB]

@MickyB, thanks for the newspaper article link.

Does anyone know if people are still trying to get the Trans-Otway Walk happening?

I think the Otway Ranges Walking Track Association are still trying to get it up and running.

More info on the proposed track here http://www.otwaywalks.com/TOWW_main1.html

[Eremophila]

I wouldn't mind this info either pleas MickyB, my other half found some info on this walk last year and we were getting around to it at some stage. Didn't realise it was so difficult to find, although in hindsight our info was rather vague. Not that that's stopped us before...

[MickyB]

I wouldn't mind this info either pleas MickyB, my other half found some info on this walk last year and we were getting around to it at some stage. Didn't realise it was so difficult to find, although in hindsight our info was rather vague. Not that that's stopped us before...

PM sent

[MickyB]

@MickyB, thanks for the newspaper article link.

Does anyone know if people are still trying to get the Trans-Otway Walk happening?

I think the Otway Ranges Walking Track Association are still trying to get it up and running.

More info on the proposed track here http://www.otwaywalks.com/TOWW_main1.html

The ORWTA are definatley still trying to get the Trans-Otway Waterfall Walk happeneing. The following quotes are taken from their membership renewal email.

Presently, we have been pro-active in pushing for the High-view Walk to be established; the first leg of the Trans Otway Waterfall Walk

We hope that you can support our club with their endeavours of providing interesting monthly walks and to further the cause of the Trans Otway Waterfall Walk established.

[97EA08]

Welcome to the forum jp90.

Sorry. Just saw your post. PM sent

Hey mate, just wondering if you could possibly send me the map too? A mate told me about the Mousetrap Complex the other day and it's almost impossible to find any information on its whereabouts. Cheers

[MickyB]

Welcome to the forum jp90.

Sorry. Just saw your post. PM sent

Hey mate, just wondering if you could possibly send me the map too? A mate told me about the Mousetrap Complex the other day and it's almost impossible to find any information on its whereabouts. Cheers

Hmmm. Not sure how I keep missing these posts.

Sorry 97EA08. PM sent.

[FSPA]

G'day, I struggle to find reliable info on Mousetrap complex route online - I wonder if you could forward that map to me? Many thanks in advance!

[MickyB]

FSPA - PM sent

[Shutterschok]

Is there any possibility that anyone is able to send me info about the Complex? I'm very interested.

[MickyB]

The walk starts near the corner of Forrest-Apollo Bay Rd and Old Coach Rd.

[Biggles]

The walk starts near the corner of Forrest-Apollo Bay Rd and Old Coach Rd.

It can start at any of three locations actually.
But really, that is as much information that should be given because of the number of people going in there ill-equipped, no maps, no GPS, no water, unprepared for the terrain and trying to apportion blame on the Otway Ranges Walking Track Association, which does not have anything to do with the Mousetrap Falls Complex and certainly does not organise walks there.

ORWTA does however have long involvement in extensively mapping and pushing for formal recognition of the Trans-Otway Waterfall Walk going way, way back in years, and more recently the Wild Dog Track/Highview Walk that is seeing some recognition and popular success. The only extant part of this long-fabled walk is the Sabine Grand Circuit Walk, also vaguely known as the "Four Falls Circuit" — a hard-hitting, filthy slog that has left many walkers exhausted — albeit with a great sense of achievement. This ordeal-of-a-walk on the wild side makes an eventual exit at reasonably scenic Wild Dog Falls via a splashdown into frigid Jack Phillips Cascade (JP was an early pioneer of ORWTA). Wet, cold, shivering and miserable in a dark, deep and gloomy gully... . Is that all...? Noooo! It is then followed by a gut-busting near-vertical climb out, exiting Hell & Filth at leafy green Turton's Track. So, that's all? Nooooo! Your Drill Major will then make you walk 7km back to the cars at Haines Junction.

But back to the meaty bits...
The route in to the Mousetrap Falls Complex (It is important to note here that there is no 'Mousetrap Falls' per se) was surveyed extensively in 2001 by a senior co-founder of ORWTA (The Age carried an interesting article about this). He was reluctant to go back in there when initial enquiries were written out in 2013, so it was plotted, tracked and photographed by an independent (unrelated to ORWTA) GPS-guided party in the winter of 2013 (!), as far as Zig Zag Falls. Progress was physical, slow, cold and tedious but at least dry (started at 9.35am, ended at 3.00pm in a downpour). There are several high cliffs dropping unseen because of thick scrub, and the most isolated, cold and bewitching of the falls is Green Chasm Falls — there are 3 others, not necessarily accessible, and potentially a few more in deep, inaccessible terrain. Pretty and remote as it was in Green Chasm, I'll be blunt: it was a relief to get out of the place!

The presence of a route or track marked on a map does not necessarily imply that a route or track exists on the ground, especially since originally-surveyed maps with such markings are many decades old and have not been ground-checked. FWIW, a private party in 2014 did not find any trace — cleared, marked, taped or otherwise, of Sabine Contour Track, which is understood to have originally lead to Tea House Junction.

Of the Mousetrap Falls Complex, there are no signs, formed tracks, taped/flagged routes or in-situ ropes (but ropes, I can report from experience, are essential).

EDIT: It's a pity that 2003 Age article [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/26/1067103266667.html] contains so many errors of fact and description that were not subsequently corrected. Quite apart from there not being any Mousetrap Falls (which would have saved many exasperated people like me from telling it like it is over and over and over), the cataract showing John Piesse Tarzan-style is actually Green Chasm Falls.

Our party is tentatively returning this year (winter) for large format photography and likely again in the Spring.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

[riggletto]

Wanting to obtain a map or info on how to get to Mousetrap Falls!

[Biggles]

<*sigh*> Repeating comments in my post, there is NO 'Mousetrap Falls' A number of waterfalls are extant within a broad area termed Mousetrap Complex. It is the imaginative work of online forums and carnival barkers that suggest there is an evocatively-named Mousetrap Falls.
Updated maps and GPS coordinates do exist now, but no marked route. These will not be made public due to continuing problems with people wandering into that area wide-eyed and unprepared, the most recent occasion being last Friday (23rd Feb.)

A guided walk will be scheduled for this winter or Spring when conditions are suitable.

[jjoske]

Does anyone have any update to date information on the routes to Mousetrap complex they would be able share?

[WillKendrick]

Went in and did the west Mousetrap Complex yesterday (did the east a few weeks ago). Just confirming there was no maintained track down to any of the falls. Relied solely on GPS to get in and out again. The Sabine Contour track did however show some wear close to the road. Came across scattered bits of old pink tape here and there- but it's in need of a re-marking.

[bobcrusader]

Would have been flowing nicely. Any pictures?

[WillKendrick]

Here's 2 of the many we saw down there. If anyone is interested, I did find a couple more further downstream of Green Chasm Falls.

OREN Falls

Green Chasm Falls

[lachie122]

Hey everyone, just came across this thread as I've been looking for info on the falls in the Sabine area. I've noticed some of you have been exchanging maps and coordinates via PM. Hoping to jump on board and ask if anyone has any info they'd like to share regarding the exact locations of the Mousetrap Complex falls. I'm looking at heading there this year, cheers

[WillKendrick]

Hey everyone, just came across this thread as I've been looking for info on the falls in the Sabine area. I've noticed some of you have been exchanging maps and coordinates via PM. Hoping to jump on board and ask if anyone has any info they'd like to share regarding the exact locations of the Mousetrap Complex falls. I'm looking at heading there this year, cheers

Sent you a PM mate.

[Biggles]

Hey everyone, just came across this thread as I've been looking for info on the falls in the Sabine area. I've noticed some of you have been exchanging maps and coordinates via PM. Hoping to jump on board and ask if anyone has any info they'd like to share regarding the exact locations of the Mousetrap Complex falls. I'm looking at heading there this year, cheers

Sent you a PM mate.

Good-o Will!
Would be good to arrange a group walk into Mousetrap while it is reasonably dry (albeit not snake-free...); I'm not going in there in the wet: winter is starkly contrasting with fog, cold, leeches, mud and whining for gin and biskits... And OREN Falls needs to be cleaned up by Kendrick & Co. with their coterie of garden tune-up tools — that fallen log over the lip of OREN really gnarls me... . Really, OREN is the first jewel in the crown (when it is tidy!); the other being Green Chasm Falls.
Meanwhile, I deduce from GPS-speak that OREN is about 1.3km from the Sabine Contour Tk. Others may differ. Of the diminishing few people I know who established this walk a long, long time ago, none of them have any interest in it now. I am concerned about this. For all its scenic beauty and exciting remoteness, it is up to a small band of walking enthusiasts (whoever is here) to keep it alive rathe,r than bury it in obscurity. Just remember that anybody can go in there and enjoy the experience; the important thing is not to get lost!!

I went down that way on I think 8th January en route Blanket Bay, and noticed during a very brief roadside stop that the Sabine Contour Track has been resurfaced (!), almost mountain bikable!

[CraigVIC]

I wouldn't be too worried biggles, there's lots of people getting to the off track otways falls, some more than others, but the mousetrap group has that something about it and I think it will intrigue most until it really is established.

Mt Sabine is really wet just at the moment

[WillKendrick]

For interest's sake, this video I put together has a lot of the Mousetrap Complex waterfalls in it. Still have a few left to do further down, waiting for some more substantial rain before then! This was last year's season. https://youtu.be/rTW-UAcHurE