Tin Mine Falls

Tin Mine Falls
Tin Mine Falls
Location	Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	36°39′59″S 148°14′05″E / 36.66639°S 148.23472°E / -36.66639; 148.23472Coordinates: 36°39′59″S 148°14′05″E / 36.66639°S 148.23472°E / -36.66639; 148.23472[1][2]
Type	Cascade
Total height	213 metres (699 ft)[3]
Watercourse	Tin Mine Creek

The Tin Mine Falls is a cascade waterfall located in the remote Pilot Wilderness Area within the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Described from top to bottom, the falls consist of non-segmented tiered cascades over bedrock with a few smaller plunges, followed by a single large plunge into a pool. The falls are recessed into a punchbowl feature making it impossible to view the entire waterfall from a single location on the ground.^[4]

Location and features

The forbidding terrain around Tin Mine Falls

The falls are located in remote country within the Kosciuszko National Park. The closest access point is the Cascade Fire Trail, a hiking trail that runs south from the Alpine Way, west of Thredbo Village.^[5]

The height of Tin Mine Falls is listed as 459 metres (1,506 ft)^[3] or 360 metres (1,180 ft),^[6] and quote a story concerning the origin of this figure: "The falls were apparently measured in 1990 by a Dr. John Pease ... using a plumb line".^[3][7] According to the World Waterfall Database, Tin Mine Falls is the 462nd tallest waterfall in the world, with a total height of 213 metres (699 ft).^[8] Official data from Geoscience Australia list the most significant waterfalls in Australia as:^[9]

• Wallaman Falls - Queensland, 305m^[10]
• Wollomombi Falls - New South Wales, 220 metres (720 ft) with a 100-metre (330 ft) single drop^[10]
• Ellenborough Falls - New South Wales 160 metres (520 ft) in a single drop^[10]

Conclusions

The estimated height of 160–180 metres (520–590 ft) corresponds with topography but contradicts Geoscience Australia's list of the tallest waterfalls in Australia^[11] (this would make Tin Mine Falls the 3rd highest on the continent). Unless the upper limit of the falls is fixed well upstream, to include a long section of shallow-slope non-bedrock streambed, the rumoured height of 360–459 metres (1,181–1,506 ft) cannot be substantiated.

See also

• List of waterfalls of New South Wales

References

Snowy Monaro Region, New South Wales, Australia
Townships and Villages	Adaminaby Berridale Bombala Bredbo Cooma Delegate Thredbo Village Tyrolean
Localities and rural places	Anglers Reach Arable Avonside Beloka Blue Cow Mountain Bobundara Braemar Bay Buckenderra Bullocks Flat Charlotte Pass Coolringdon Cootralantra Crackenback Dalgety Dry Plain East Jindabyne Eucumbene Cove Frying Pan Grosses Plain Guthega Hill Top Ingebirah Ironmungy Jimenbuen Jindabyne Kalkite Michelago Middlingbank Moonbah Myalla Nimmitabel Nimmo Numbla Vale Old Adaminaby Paupong Perisher Valley Pine Valley Providence Portal Rhine Falls Rocky Plain Shannons Flat Smiggin Holes Snowy Plain The Brothers Wambrook
National parks and other natural features	Kosciuszko NP Valentine Falls
Rivers and other watercourses	Berrima Burrungubugge Cooma Back Eucumbene Goorudee Gungarlin Ingeegoodbee Jacobs Little Thredbo Mowamba Pinch Snowy River Thredbo
Dams and/or associated reservoirs	Eucumbene Guthega Island Bend Jindabyne Jounama Rainbow Lake Three Mile
Mountain ranges	Snowy Mountains Charcoal Rams Head Suggan Buggan
Attractions	Alpine Way Barry Way Big Trout Blue Lake Friday Flat Camp Kiandra Lake Albina Lake Cootapatamba Mount Kosciuszko Mount Townsend Perisher Ski Resort Selwyn Snowfields Skitube Alpine Railway Smiggin Holes Snowy Mountains Highway Snowy Scheme Museum
Main Article: Local government areas of New South Wales