Fitzroy Falls is a locality in the Southern Highlands

Southern Highlands, New South Wales

The Southern Highlands, also locally referred to as the Highlands, is a geographical region and district in New South Wales, Australia and is 110 km south-west of Sydney. The entire region is under the local government area of the Wingecarribee Shire...

 of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, in Wingecarribee Shire. It was previously known as Yarrunga

Yarrunga, New South Wales

Yarrunga is a small village on Nowra Road in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. It was previously known as North Yarrunga, before the original settlement of Yarrunga was renamed Fitzroy Falls in the 1850s....

but was renamed after the 81-metre waterfall located there. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Fitzroy Falls had a population of 688 people.

First discovered in the early 19th century by Charles Throsby, Fitzroy Falls (the waterfall, in Morton National Park

Morton National Park

Morton is a national park in New South Wales , 170 km southwest of Sydney.The most notable attractions are the Fitzroy Falls, just off the main road from the Highlands to Kangaroo Valley and Pigeon House Mountain west of Milton. The park consists mostly of a flat plateau dissected by steep...

), was named after the New South Wales governor Sir Charles Fitzroy

Charles Augustus FitzRoy

Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy, KCH, KCB was a British military officer, politician and member of the aristocracy, who held governorships in several British colonies during the 19th century.-Family and peerage:...

during his visit to the beautiful area in the 1850s. While a town was planned for the area in the 1860s, little development occurred. With the advent of motor vehicles, Fitzroy Falls became, and still remains, a popular stopping point for tourists travelling towards the Highlands. Substantial parking and catering facilities have been provided, together with pathways and boardwalks which enable able-bodied visitors to view the falls and other spectacular natural features.