The Toorongo Falls Reserve protects two waterfalls on the Toorongo River and the Little Toorongo River in Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

, Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north-east of the town of Noojee, approximately 100 kilometres (62.1 mi) east of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

Flora and fauna

The Reserve is home to wet forest types, including Mountain Grey Gum, Mountain Ash

Eucalyptus regnans

Eucalyptus regnans, known variously by the common names Mountain Ash, Victorian Ash, Swamp Gum, Tasmanian Oak or Stringy Gum, is a species of Eucalyptus native to southeastern Australia, in Tasmania and Victoria...

, Manna Gum

Manna Gum

Eucalyptus viminalis, Manna Gum, also known as White Gum, Ribbon Gum or Viminalis is an Australian eucalypt.It is a straight erect tree, often around 40 metres tall, with rough bark on the trunk and base of larger branches, its upper bark peels away in long "ribbons" which can collect on the...

, Blackwood

Australian Blackwood

Acacia melanoxylon, commonly known as the Australian Blackwood, is an Acacia species native in eastern Australia. The species is also known as Sally Wattle, Lightwood, Hickory, Mudgerabah, Tasmanian Blackwood or Black Wattle . This tree species grows fast and tall, up to 45 m height...

 and Austral Mulberry

Hedycarya angustifolia

Hedycarya angustifolia, also known as the Native Mulberry or Australian Mulberry, is a rainforest plant of south and eastern Australia. The habitat is cool gullies and moist temperate forests, often at high altitude...

. A variety of ferns thrive in the damp conditions including the Necklace Fern

Asplenium flabellifolium

Asplenium flabellifolium is commonly known as the Necklace Fern. This small and attractive fern occurs in all states of Australia, as well as in New Zealand. It was initially described by Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles....

, Soft Tree Fern, & the Long Fork-fern.

In the reserve lives, Common & Mountain Brush Tailed Possum

Possum

A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

, Ring Tailed Possum

Possum

A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

, Sugar Glider

Sugar Glider

The sugar glider is a small gliding possum originating from the marsupial family.The sugar glider is native to eastern and northern mainland Australia and is also native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.- Habitat :Sugar gliders can be found all throughout the northern and eastern parts of...

, and a variety of bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s. Red-Bellied Black Snakes

Red-bellied Black Snake

The Red-bellied Black Snake, Pseudechis porphyriacus, is a species of elapid snake native to eastern Australia. Though its venom is capable of causing significant morbidity, it is not generally fatal and less venomous than other deadly Australian snakes. It is common in woodlands, forests and...

 are commonly found during warmer periods.

Waterfalls

Walking tracks

The reserve contains two bush walking tracks, which total 2.2 kilometers, taking a loop around the two waterfalls, and allowing the visitors to take the wide range of native experiences the area offers..

History

The area was an original border of two Aboriginal

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 tribes. Wurundjeri who were to the west, and part of the Kulin Nation and the Brayakoloong, part of the Kurnai nation, who lived of the river flats of the Latrobe Valley

Latrobe Valley

The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...

. There is still evidence of Aboriginal heritage today, with many culturally significant sites being situated in the reserve.