Little Waterfall Trail

This pleasant countryside walk in the heart of a wooded valley can be combined with a stay at Le Refuge de Farino, a wander around the market, a visit to the Festival of the Bancoule Worm or a table d'hôte meal.

ROUTE DESCRIPTION

Respect private property: gates must remain
closed. No swimming allowed upstream of the catchment.

D Car park: head north on the main dirt track that runs along the right bank of the Farino (lots of vegetation, tree ferns, ironwood trees, fruit trees, etc.). Ignore all the secondary tracks that branch off and keep to the well-maintained track. Cross an apron, and then climb a gentle slope. After 1.1 km, ignore the track that goes down to the right and stay on the main grassy track. You’ll reach the bird information board.

1 Gate: close the gate (recognising the unpredictable birds flitting through the light-flecked foliage is no easy task, but observant enthusiasts might spot red-crowned parakeets, white-bellied goshawks, New Caledonian whistlers, fantails, honeyeaters, imperial pigeons, crows and cuckooshrikes). Climb the ladder that takes you over the barbed wire on the second gate and a few metres further on, leave the main track and take the maintained trail down to the river. Emerge at the edge of the creek. Follow the water upstream to the trail that goes down to the river.

2 Small waterfall (GPS: 580 363 – 7 607 254): follow the same route back to the start.

© Text by Jean Francis Clair