Sirens Spires Canyon
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| | Raps:7, max ↨197ft
Red Tape:No permit required Shuttle:None Vehicle:Passenger Rock type:chert | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Condition Reports: | 22 Mar 2025
"53.3 ML/d on the Pinch River gauge. Had rained 30mm (Thredbo Top weather station) between night/morning of 20 and 21 March. Water level was low.. |
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| Best season: | Oct-May
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-36.6767, 148.2361
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Weather forecast
Waterflow
Nearby photos
Introduction
A great remote canyon in the Snowy Mountains region. Due to the 25km approach it is best done as a 3 day trip and camping at Tin Mines Hut (2.6km from turn off onto approach track along Cascade Trail).
This canyon is described in comprehensive detail in Canyoning Around Victoria guidebook. Buy the book and support the inordinate amount of effort Rob and Sam put in to open the canyon and create the book.
Water levels
There is no active telemetered river gauge for Tin Mine Falls. A historical river gauge can be found marked on some NSW topographical maps; however, this site is inactive.
Pinch River at the Barry Way (site no. 222016) has the potential to be a "proxy gauge" for Tin Mine Falls since its catchment borders the Tin Mine Falls catchment (~13 sq km); however, its catchment is much larger (~155 sq km) and therefore may not be representative of conditions in Siren Spires Canyon (Tin Mine Falls).
Cascade Creek (-36.58190, 148.25943) near Cascade Hut has a similar sized catchment (~13 sq km). This may provide some early indication of water flow.
Map outlining the Sirens Spires Canyon /Tin Mine Falls catchment (in blue) and the Pinch River catchment (in orange).
The below table lists the Pinch River ML/d rate for known trips.
| Date | ML/d | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 4 December 2020 | 98 | First descent. Pictures in the guidebook are from this trip. |
| 14 December 2024 | 100 | Aborted attempt. Water levels too high. |
| 22 March 2025 | 53 | Low water levels. Successful descent |
The highest flow rate recorded for the Pinch River gauge in the last 10 years (from March 2025 backwards) was 1,854 ML/d on 15 January 2022.
Approach
As per the map. 25km walk or mountain bike ride (recommended mode of travel) to get to the start.
Descent
See the Canyoning Around Victoria guidebbook for a great topo.
Tips
- All anchors are on river right
- The longest abseil is the last one @ 60m
- The penultimate abseil has a very exposed traverse to the main anchor tucked around the TR
- Due to their location R1 bolts may be buried under debris and not immediately visible
- The anchor for R6 is around the corner. Don't mistake the intermediate single bolt on the approach line as the anchor
- In normal conditions most abseil lines are largely out of the flow or on edge of flow
Exit
Up the scree from the last abseil, then to a small ledge (with a spring) which crosses the fierce headwall, the zigzap up the loose scree, back to the top.
