The Toorongo Falls Reserve protects two waterfalls, Amphitheatre Falls on the

Toorongo River The Toorongo River is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the West Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. Course and features Toorongo River rises below Cone Hill within the Mount Toorongo Range, part of ...

and Toorongo Falls on the

Little Toorongo River Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

, including the confluence of those two rivers, in

West Gippsland West Gippsland is a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of around the eastern shores of the Western Port Bay, extending from San Remo in the west to the Strzelecki Ranges in the east, up to Mount Howitt in the north. ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. It is located approximately north-east of the town of

Noojee Noojee is a town in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia, north of Warragul and east of Melbourne, in the Baw Baw local government area. At the 2016 census, Noojee and the surrounding area had a population of 157. The town benefits from ...

, approximately east of Melbourne.

Flora and fauna

The Reserve is home to wet forest types, including

mountain grey gum ''Eucalyptus cypellocarpa'', commonly known as mountain grey gum, mountain gum, monkey gum or spotted mountain grey gum, is a species of straight, smooth-barked forest tree that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It has relatively large, lance ...

mountain ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

manna gum ''Eucalyptus viminalis'', commonly known as the manna gum, white gum or ribbon gum, is a species of small to very tall tree that is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, sometimes with rough bark near the base, lance-shaped to c ...

blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...

and Austral mulberry. A variety of ferns thrive in the damp conditions including the necklace fern,

soft tree fern ''Dicksonia antarctica'', the soft tree fern, Tasmanian Tree Fern or man fern, is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. Anatomy and ...

, and the long fork-fern. Animals found in the reserve include

common Common may refer to: As an Irish surname, it is anglicised from Irish Gaelic surname Ó Comáin. Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Com ...

and

mountain brushtail possum The mountain brushtail possum, or southern bobuck (''Trichosurus cunninghami''), is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae native to southeastern Australia. It was not described as a separate species until 2002. Taxon ...

ringtail possum Pseudocheiridae is a family of arboreal marsupials containing 17 extant species of ringtailed possums and close relatives. They are found in forested areas and shrublands throughout Australia and New Guinea. Characteristics Physically, they app ...

sugar glider The sugar glider (''Petaurus breviceps'') is a small, omnivorous, arboreal, and nocturnal gliding possum. The common name refers to its predilection for sugary foods such as sap and nectar and its ability to glide through the air, much lik ...

, and a variety of

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

Red-bellied black snake The red-bellied black snake (''Pseudechis porphyriacus'') is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae, indigenous to Australia. Originally described by George Shaw in 1794 as a species new to science, it is one of eastern Australia ...

s are commonly found during warmer periods.

Waterfalls

Walking tracks

The reserve contains two bush walking tracks, which total 2.22 kilometres, taking a loop around the two waterfalls, and allowing the visitors to take the wide range of native experiences the area has to offer.

History

The area is close to a border of two Aboriginal tribes, but is not included within any Registered Aboriginal Party boundary. The

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

are to the west, and part of the

Kulin nation The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language. History Before British colonisation, the ...

and the Braiakaulung, part of the Gunai Nation, are to the east. There is purported evidence of Aboriginal heritage, with some culturally significant sites being situated in the reserve.

References

{{coord, 37, 50, 57, S, 146, 2, 46, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title Nature reserves in Victoria (state)