Short Walks at Cradle Mountain

Three short walks near the ranger center are easy and scenic forest walks including waterfalls and rivers.

We did these short walks on our first full day in the park. We did the Pencil Pine Falls Walk, the Rainforest Walk, and the Enchanted Walk on the other side of the road. It took us a couple of hours to do all three, with lots of photo stops. 

You can see Pencil Pine Cascades from the bridge along the road without doing any hiking. 

Pencil Pine Cascades

Most of the trail surface is boardwalk. The walks on the ranger station side of the road are through mossy forest. 

We first walked back to the top of Knyvet Falls. 

While the waterfalls are probably the highlights for most people, some of the mosses are beautiful in their own small way.

This is Pencil Pine Falls, which we stopped at on the way back out. 

Pencil Pine Falls

At the beginning of the Enchanted Walk we were greeted by a motionless black snake. 

This white plant appears to be a reindeer lichen. Whatever it is, it looks cool. 

We saw a wallaby mama and joey on the Enchanted walk. We had to caption the second photo: Joey, have you seen my phone? It was right here in my pouch. 

Part of the Enchanted Walk follows the banks of Pencil Pine Creek. The last photo is of Pencil Pine Falls from the Rainforest Walk.