Mirang Pool is a pretty, yet rarely visited swimming hole in Heathcote National Park. Come on a sunny day and the water perfectly reflects the surrounding gum trees creating a lovely green shimmer. Whilst it doesn’t have the scale of nearby Goburra Pool or the craggy rock walls of Lake Eckersley, it’s a serene spot that you likely won’t have to share with anyone else. We visited on a very hot Saturday in March and there wasn’t a soul around.
Added to that it’s a short easy walk, though you could lengthen it by also visiting the two pools mentioned above, creating one epic day of swimming hole hopping.
The Mirang Pool Walk
The stats
Distance: 3.5km return
Elevation gain: 85m
Difficulty: Easy, but not flat
Summary: There are a couple of different start points for Mirang Pool, in this guide we’re sharing the shortest route. If you’d like to also visit Goburra Pool then you can start on Oliver Street instead before continuing on to Mirang Pool.
Visiting Mirang Pool via the shortest route is all on a well maintained path, which has one short rocky section that is a little steep. However, around half the route is on a flat fire trail, so all in all it’s a quick and easy walk.
Starting the trail
The walk begins on the corner of Freeman Drive and Bella Vista Street. The trail begins at a gate that is just beside a pylon (you can see it in the photo below). The trail heads alongside the pylon before you reach a T junction 100m into the walk, the left path heads into the bush and right path goes into the residential area. Take the left.
It begins as a fire trail and will head downhill towards another pylon, with one very short steep section. The fire trail is a little rocky, but wasn’t slippery on our visit. After 300m you will reach a bush track and it becomes more scenic.
The bush track is also a bit rocky and uneven, but not slippery when dry. After 100m on the bush track you’ll come to a small rock gully you need to climb down, but it’s just a couple of steps and not challenging.
Roughly 30m later you’ll turn right (430m into the walk) and begin heading along the Friendly Track.
Along the pipeline
The path is now either flat or very gently downhill and the conditions underfoot are good. You feel like you’ve left suburbia behind as you head through the bush with the ever present chorus from the cicadas.
After just over 300m you’ll reach a few stairs leading downhill which bring you to a bridge over the pipeline. You’ll then reach another fire trail and head left.
The paved road will take you gently downhill for 350m before it crosses a bridge over the creek. Roughly 100m later (1.25km into the walk) you’ll see a path on the right leading down to another pool.
We didn’t have time to check this one out, from above it didn’t look particularly large or deep, but it might be worth a look before continuing on to Mirang Pool.
You’ll continue following the fire trail alongside the pipeline for another 450m before reaching a turning on the right, signposted as Mirang Pool. The pool is 50m away, down a set of good, if a little damp and muddy, stairs.
Swimming at Mirang Pool
You can enter the pool from the rock platform you first arrive at from the bottom of the stairs. Some of the rocks down to the rock platform were a bit wet, but surprisingly weren’t slippery on our visit.
Although entry to the water looked easy here we decided to look a little further on and found access to the other side of the pool via a tiny patch of sand.
If you want to get into the pool via the sandy access, cross over the creek (easy unless the flow is high as it’s just a few steps and I didn’t get wet boots despite not crossing on the logs) and then head left along the sandy track.
After just a minute you’ll reach a little patch of sand which provides easy access to the water.
When you step into the pool the sand drops away quickly and the water is immediately deep, so you don’t have to worry about shuffling over slippery rocks, which is always a win!
The water is lovely and clear and looked especially pretty in the sunshine. I didn’t encounter any rocks or logs inside the pool, so it was a very relaxing place for a dip.
There is one power line you can see high above you, but to be honest, the predominant view is of dense gum trees, and it was easy to ignore the power line. Like many of the pools around Heathcote, the water isn’t particularly cold, so you can swim here later into the year than you might in places like the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands.
If you only have time to visit one pool in Heathcote, then I wouldn’t necessarily pick this one, but if you’re looking for a quiet swim and love to explore all the pools on offer, then you won’t be disappointed with Mirang Pool.
There’s a small set of cascades at one end of the pool and you could no doubt continue over the rocks and into the next pool along, though as we were also visiting Lake Eckersley as well (2km further on), we didn’t go any further.
There was another pool just downstream of Mirang Pool, you’ll see it immediately from that initial rock platform. It was very pretty but the water was shallow, so better for lazing than for swimming.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the national park, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
There are no facilities, including toilets, at the trailhead or anywhere along the route to Mirang Pool, so please plan accordingly.
Getting to the Mirang Pool trailhead
The track to Mirang Pool via the quickest route as described above begins on the corner of Freeman Drive and Bella Vista street in Heathcote. There is no official car park for the walk, but room for several cars to park fully off the road.
Please park respectfully as this is a residential street. If you are coming by public transport you can walk from Heathcote Train Station, which adds on an additional 1km each way.
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