Wannon Falls, located in the Southern Grampians, presents a spectacular display of water flowing down the falls into a deep plunge pool below. Just 20 kilometres west of Hamilton Wannon Falls was created by basalt lava flow that surged upstream to the Wannon River.
The water, which cascades over a 30-metre vertical precipice into a deep plunge pool below, is actually flowing over hardened basalt lava. Further downstream, rapids wind their way around large blocks of basalt, dislodged over time down the embankments of the
narrow valley.
The history surrounding the Wannon and Nigretta Falls dates back to the 1850's when the small town of Redruth, renamed Wannon in 1908, was first settled. Planned around the Wannon Inn and a ferry for crossing the river, the community consisted of two schools, two hotels, a store and four sawmills located nearby.
Over time, the Falls became a popular tourist attraction, attracting many visitors in the 1890s when excursion trains travelled from Hamilton.
The turn off to Wannon Falls is 19 kilometres west of Hamilton, just off the Glenelg Highway. Wannon Falls and the nearby Nigretta Falls are linked by a scenic road.
Both waterfalls are at their biggest and best after a winter or spring rainfall.
