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Dargans Creek is a great little beginners canyon. No abseils are involved, just some tricky scrambling parts. The slot section is as good as any canyon in the Blue Mountains, and the moss on the walls is quite spectacular. The slot is not very tall, but it's enclosed and dark.
Start out from the lower dam, and climb down the ladders on the right hand
side of the dam. At the bottom you'll find a track which follows the right hand
cliff face all the way into the canyon. There are a few logs across the creek
to negotiate and then a tricky slide/scramble down into a lower section. If
you wedge yourself in the corner of the cliff wall on the right then it's not
too difficult. There is some very nice creek walking as the gorge becomes more
canyon like. One very nice part is when you emerge from a small cave into a
lush bright green fern laden forest.
The slot section is soon reached and you'll need to suit up for this one as
there are several swims. The water is cold as the sunlight does not penetrate
much to the bottom of the canyon. There are a few trickly climb downs in the
slot section including one down a long log. When you reach the end of the canyon
section you'll see a small creek coming in high up on the right hand side. This
is the exit gully. You need to climb the waterfall with the aid of the rope
and/or the log. At the top you'll see a tree with many spikes in it. You need
to climb this onto the cliff above, be very careful getting from the tree onto
the ledge, it can be slippery when wet and the height exposure is big. There
should be some ropes at the top to hold onto. Don't slip here or it's a big
fall back down.
The exit track goes off to the right up the cliff line and is fairly obvious.
The track eventually turns into an old fire trail and leads right back to the
car park.
The complete round trip is only a few hours.
Trip Photos: Dargans Creek - 3 Nov 02 (Dave, Joy, Ian, Jim)
Inside The lovely and dark slot section (major gamma enchancment on the photos, so not very sharp):
The walk in:
The exit up the waterfall and the tree with the spikes:
Some people having some flying fox fun near the dam:
