Minyon Falls
A hundred-metre drop into listed rainforest, forty minutes from the beaches.
Duration
2 hrs – 5 hrs
Difficulty
●●○○○
Best time
After rain, in the morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Minyon Falls drops around a hundred metres from a cliff of basalt columns, in Nightcap national park. The whole relief of the region is what remains of an immense shield volcano, the Tweed, of which Mount Warning is the old central plug.
The forest below is part of the Gondwana Rainforests, World Heritage listed: subtropical rainforest descended directly from that of the Gondwana supercontinent. The upper lookout is five minutes from the car park; the trail to the base of the falls takes two and a half hours.
Getting there
Forty minutes' drive west of Byron Bay, via Mullumbimby. No public transport: a car is essential.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
Rules on site
The flow is weak in the dry season and the fall can be reduced to a trickle. Leeches are plentiful on the lower trail after rain, and the access tracks are sometimes closed after heavy storms.