Phantom Falls is a gorgeous waterfall located just outside of Lorne. If you visit after heavy rain you’ll be treated to multiple cascades plunging over the sheer rock face. If you visit in drier times, as we did, it will be more subtle, but even subtle is gorgeous at Phantom Falls.
We’d recommend visiting the falls as part of the Waterfall Circuit, for the chance to see a second waterfall and walk through an amazing mini canyon. If you prefer the quickest route, we’ll go into details on that too.
Here’s everything you need to know about visiting Phantom Falls.
The two routes to Phantom Falls
As we mentioned, we love the longer circuit walk to Phantom Falls, which is actually one of our favourites in Lorne.
We’ll start with details on the longer walk, but feel free to skip down the page if you want to know about the quickest way to Phantom Falls. Both trails are fairly easy, it’s really just length that separates them.
The Phantom Falls Waterfall Circuit
The stats
Distance: 8.8km
Elevation: 310m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
The Waterfall Circuit is a relatively easy walk. It does have a few climbs, but also plenty of flat track. The path is well formed throughout and there isn’t any tricky terrain to contend with.
It does involve a section of tedious road walking, but we think it’s worth it for the variety of the rest of the trail. It took us 2.5 hours at a leisurely pace.
Starting the trail at the Sheoak Picnic Area
The walk begins at the picnic area and heads up the road for the first 350m.
It’s not a great start to the walk but happily you can turn off the road and onto the trail after just a few minutes, it’s a left turn and signposted.
You’ll follow this track above the road for 90m before crossing over another road and heading into the bush.
We saw some people park at the side of this crossroads which would knock 440m uninspiring metres from the trail if you can find a safe spot to park.
Once you’re on the bush track it gets much better and you’ll head gently downhill on a smooth well maintained path.
It’s nice and bushy which also offers some good shade. Roughly 600m into the bush track you’ll come to a junction with Won Wondah Falls.
The lookout is a 50m detour.
You arrive at a viewing platform which doesn’t offer the best of views as the cascades are obscured, but it’s pretty enough and takes just a minute to reach.
I promise that after not making the beginning of this walk sound too enticing it gets much, much better!
Onto Henderson Falls
After heading back onto the main trail, the walk continues through the bush for another couple of hundred metres where you’ll meet another junction.
The detour to Henderson Falls is 900m return and it’s a very easy walk.
The trail gets a lot more lush and beautiful and the path is flat and relaxing. The sound of the birds and the creek, as well as all the ferns and greenery give is a tranquil feel.
You’ll then arrive at the pretty Henderson Falls.
As mentioned we were not visiting after heavy rainfall, so none of the falls were as dramatic and striking as they would be in full flow, but it’s undeniably a lovely spot even with very little water.
It was more like a weeping rock, but set in a gorgeous shady overhang with plenty of tree ferns which created a lovely atmosphere. The shape of the water over the rock was really pretty and I can only imagine how special it would be in full flow.
There are plenty of rocks and logs to sit on and it’s a peaceful spot to relax.
Onto the canyon
After retracing your steps back to the junction you head left following signs for the canyon and Phantom Falls. There’s a little creek to cross which is easy, and then trail begins heading downhill.
The forest is wonderful, and the walking easy.
After some initial downhill the trail does undulate a little before heading uphill towards the canyon.
There is one large tree down over the track (which may get cleared in time) but it’s easy to get over.
A few hundred metres later you’ll reach lots of fabulous mossy logs and rocky crags which mark the beginning of the canyon.
Apart from Phantom Falls itself this next part of the walk was my favourite. The canyon has high walls and lots of foliage giving it a wild and adventurous feel.
The path has a few ups and downs, but is still nice and easy and the scenery is just fantastic. I love the feeling of the canyon walls looming over you.
All too soon (just 250m) you reach the canyon exit which is a fun little section of track, with uneven stone steps taking you through a little gap in the boulders and up onto the main walking track again.
You can then walk on the little path to the right which takes you to a view over the canyon. It’s narrow but only takes a minute and it’s cool to see into the canyon from above.
Heading onto Phantom Falls
A couple of hundred metres along the path after leaving the canyon you’ll come to a signposted junction. You follow the trail downhill into the bush.
It’s a wide path through a forest of tall trees which give the trail a different feel again. I think that’s one of my favourite things about this walk - it’s not that long, but it’s incredibly varied.
The path soon flattens and the walking is very easy.
After a kilometre you’ll reach the junction with Phantom Falls. You’re now just a few minutes from the base of the falls. The path to get there descends more steeply as you head down several staircases, but there are rails if rain has made it slippery.
You’ll then be standing at the base of the falls.
Phantom Falls
There are lots of rocks beside the pool where you can sit and relax. The setting is stunning with high rock walls and plenty of ferns.
Even though we only had one cascade it was still spectacular. After heavy rain this must be one of the most beautiful and dramatic waterfalls along the Great Ocean Road.
There is quite a large pool at the base of the falls which on first glance looked really inviting.
When you look closer there was quite a bit of debris and a lot of insects, so I am not sure it’s quite the idyllic swimming spot, but it’s certainly a wonderful place to sit beside.
Continuing along the creek and finishing the circuit
From the base of the falls you head back to the junction and follow signs for Allendale. You are now walking along the direct and quickest route to and from Phantom Falls.
You have quite a long flat stretch of track looking down on the creek and cascades, before you come to a very short, but very steep downhill section. It’s gravel and looked like it could be slippery so I stuck close to the edge and it was luckily better than it looked.
The path then heads more gradually downhill before flattening. It follows the picturesque fern lined creek and passes some farmland.
This part of the walk really reminded me of England and I felt like I’d been transported home again!
Roughly 1.5km after leaving Phantom Falls you’ll arrive at an orchard. It feels like you’ve left the trail, but you’ll see the signpost and know you’re still on track.
It’s yet another completely different scene to add to the array of landscapes you’ve already seen.
After skirting around the orchard you will walk beside the creek again briefly, before emerging onto the road, this is 6.9km into the track (from the Sheoak Picnic Area).
Directly opposite you’ll see the Allendale car park which is the parking area for the direct route to the falls.
Unfortunately the last part of the walk is not great because you need to walk along the road for 1.9km back to your car.
The walk is continuously uphill, but easy enough, and wouldn’t be too bad if walking on a quiet day when there aren’t many cars.
If it’s busy cars kick up constant dust which isn’t very pleasant and will probably leave you wanting to head straight to the ocean to wash off!
You could avoid the road by doing a return walk, but it will either be really long if starting at Sheoak Picnic Area, or miss some of the best parts of the trail if starting at Allendale.
The quickest route to Phantom Falls
The quickest route to Phantom Falls is roughly 1.8km each way and begins at the Allendale car park. The walk heads over the road and follows the sign for Phantom Falls. You’ll walk along a pretty creek and past an orchard before the path continues along the creek once again.
It’s an easy start to the trail and very picturesque. The path will then start ascending towards the falls. As you climb you will begin to get lovely views out over the cascades and towards hundreds and hundreds of gum trees.
There is one very short, but very steep section of track before it levels out and is easy going until the junction with the falls.
You are then minutes away from the base of the waterfall and you will descend down some staircases which have handrails if rain has made the track slippery. When you’re ready to leave the falls, you retrace your steps back to the car park.
This is the easiest route to the falls and doesn’t involve any road walking, which is a bonus.
Getting to the trailheads
Depending on your route you will either park at Sheoak Picnic Area or Allendale car park in the Great Otway National Park, close to Lorne. Both involve a short drive on a dirt road which is in good condition but kicks up a lot of dust. There aren’t any facilities at Allendale, but Sheoak has toilets and picnic benches.
The Sheoak Picnic Area is a 10 minute drive from Lorne and Allendale car park is only 5 minutes.
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