CAMPASPE - BARFOLDS GORGE

Barfolds Gorge

Campaspe River - Thomas Elms

Enjoyable

Grade: 3+ (p)

Put in: Heathcote-Kyneton Road Bridge over the Campasbe

Take out: Redesdale Bridge

Length: 14km

Time: 2-5 hours

Shuttle: 15 mins on sealed roads

Character: An enjoyable grade 3+ run with 2 large waterfalls only 1.5 hours from Melbourne.

Description:

The first 1.5km is mostly flat water and passes through farmland on either side. The first rapids begin only a few hundred meters above the first fall and are only grade 2 - 2+, but there is a lot of ti-trees and wood that could be a problem.

Queens Fall, the first of the two main waterfalls in this section is a 2.5m drop formed by a lava flow. This feature has an exceptionally shallow landing across its main length, meaning even an exceptional boof will lead to paddlers landing on the rocks below. The best line is far river right, down a separate chute that has a pool below that is deep and friendly. At low flows, this line may not be do-able as the lead-in is exceptionally shallow.

Below Queens Falls the river continues to increase in difficulty, featuring mostly grade 3 rapids with caution being needed as there is high pin potential and more timber. Almost exactly 1 km downstream of Queens Falls is Mitchell Falls.

Mitchell Falls is most easily identified by the noise and is easily portaged on the river right. At high flows, it could be difficult to stop above so high caution should be exercised by paddlers to ensure they get out in time to scout. The fall is river-wide and could be as high as 20m. Definitely one of the most impressive falls in Victoria when flowing. This fall is yet to be paddled as there is a ledge that juts out below, leading to a huge volume of water needed to carry a paddler past it into the deep water. River right looks most runnable from above but there would definitely be a close encounter with the rocks below

Portaging this fall is easy enough, however, it is still exceptionally steep and slippery and takes 10-15 minutes walking down river right.

Below Mitchell falls is the highest quality paddling of the section, featuring mostly grade 3-3+ boulder gardens that are fast and tight. Just 400m downstream of Mitchell falls is an enjoyable grade 4 through a tight group of boulders with a very retentive hole at the bottom. This rapid is steeper than it looks but is easily scouted on the river right by walking over a large lava flow. Below this rapid is a large cave on the left that has been carved out by the river as the water is forced into the wall quite fast at high flows.

The rest of the run is moderately technical grade 3-3+, with a few exceptionally tight sections created by ti-trees and logs. Apart from a few very nasty strainers that need to be looked at carefully, the rest of the run is fast and fun and shouldn't take a group more than 5 hours including scouting and portaging. This lap can easily be done in under 2 hours without scouting if you know the lines, meaning multiple laps can be done in a day.