National Parks along the Gwydir Highway S To Tenterfield, p i r Brisbane a b Bluff River o Torrington !I F Sydney Nature Reserve State o Visitor guide r e Conservation s B t Area i c e W n a t LEGEND e y National Parks n Mt d n Highway S R i along the pirabo a l Sealed Road N a t Unsealed Road T i o o Bolivia Hill r n 4WD road r a in Nature Reserve l Gwydir Highway g t Walking Tracks T Washpool o r n e r a v i i National Park National Park R l d Capoompeta R Nature hosts the best stories National Park Camping Area Lookout Ten Mile Rd Accommodation d Deepwater ants R Bezz a r 0 5 10 KM r a Butterleaf b C m a i n National Park T ga i d R R d en Ba orv d Gibraltar Range ld M R y To Grafton No a b in w National Park d lg h R R g E i r d a n H M e n e l B a v h G a Barool n i a n r R Y k H National r u di t y R Park w o Nymboida Rd G a d e ni National Park or m Ra Mann River O ld Glen Innes G D Nature Reserve r o a b f o t o y n - This map gives a basic overview of Gle R n In d features and facilities. It does not provide nes Rd detailed information on topography and landscape, and may not be suitable for nationalparks.nsw.gov.au some activities. We recommend that you buy a topographic map before you go Guy Fawkes River To Armidale, exploring. Sydney National Park Granite peaks, The World Heritage walk Australian walking track rainforests & wild rivers Grade: medium grading system Distance: 45km circuit, 3- 4 days Spanning the eastern edge of the Great Dividing Grade 1 is suitable for people with a Range in northern New South Wales are the national The World Heritage walk links Gibraltar Range and disability with assistance parks along the Gwydir Highway. Striking granite Washpool National Parks through dramatic and diverse outcrops and steep escarpments, wild rivers, landscapes. The walk is a 45km circuit along walking Grade 2 is suitable for families with young woodlands, spectacular flowering heathlands and tracks, management trails and roads. There are plenty of children World Heritage rainforests provide a varied backdrop side trips off the main trail, refer to walks 1-13. Grade 3 is recommended for people with for a choice of activities. Sightseeing, camping, Dry eucalypt forests dominate the tops of ridges and some bushwalking experience bushwalking, swimming, cycling or birdwatching are granite outcrops, surrounded by a mosaic of subalpine Grade 4 is recommended for experienced just some of the ways to enjoy these parks. swamps. In gullies lush warm-temperate to sub-tropical bushwalkers rainforests encompass the largest area of unlogged Grade 5 is recommended for very coachwood in the world. Waterfalls plummet from a experienced bushwalkers Getting There network of streams and wild rivers within wilderness The Gwydir Highway between Glen Innes and Grafton which offers refuge to a rich variety of wildlife including provides access to many of these parks. many rare and endangered species. Gibraltar Range National Park is via a nine- 1150m kilometre gravel road off the Gwydir Highway. 1050m Washpool National Park is via a 4km gravel road off 950m the Gwydir Highway. This road is steep in parts and Altitude 850m may be slippery during wet conditions. 750m Mulligans Boundary Falls picnic area Grassy Creek Coombadjha Mulligans Barool National Park is also off the Gwydir Highway picnic area & & campground campground campground picnic area & and is suited to 4WD vehicles only. campground campground Butterleaf National Park Butterleaf National Park is via gravel roads and should be accessed via Butterleaf 18km 6hour 10km 4hour 7.5km 3hour 9.5km 5hour Road, off Morven Road. 4WD drive only. Mann River Nature Reserve is 125km west of Grafton along the Gwydir Highway and 37km east of Glen Innes. Take the unsealed Old Grafton Road and drive for approximately 2km before descending 14km on sealed road to the base of Big Hill. This section of road is suitable for caravans however travelling past the reserve there are height restrictions and the road is narrow along the remaining section of road. Anvil Rock walk. Dandahra Crags walking track. Robert Cleary/DPIE Sydney blue gum. DPIE Jodie Dijkstra/DPIE Cultural Heritage The lands incorporated in these parks are an important area for Aboriginal people. The Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Ngoorabul peoples used these areas for ceremonies, including initiations, when they travelled between the coast and the tablelands. Today, the forests have important sites which are central to the identity of current and future Aboriginal people. Early European land use was focused on logging, grazing Spotted-tailed quoll. Jim Evans Gibraltar Range Waratah. Koen Dijkstra/DPIE and mining. European settlement in the region started in the 1840s and by the 1860s there were timber, sheep and cattle enterprises and a track connecting the coast and Fauna the New England Tablelands. The Washpool area was Flora most well-known for its red cedar trees while gold and tin The varied plant communities support a diverse range Plant communities in these parks range from extensive mining took off in the late 1800’s throughout the area. of wildlife in the national parks. Over 170 bird species, rainforests, wet and dry forests to the smaller plant 30 reptile species and more than 50 mammal species communities of the swamps, heaths and rock outcrops. have been recorded. Rainforest types include the dominant warm temperate A relatively common inhabitant of the rainforest is the rainforest, and more restricted patches of lowland superb lyrebird. A master of mimicry, it can sometimes subtropical, cool subtropical and dry rainforests. Tall be heard sending out a chorus of other bird calls and open wet and dry forests are dominated by eucalypts, may even mimic sounds of human activity. Walk quietly including the magnificent Sydney blue gum. along Lyrebird walk between Coachwood picnic area and Bellbird campground and you might be lucky The Gibraltar Range waratah is a spectacular feature of enough to see one of these birds putting on a display. the dry forests and heathlands in late spring and early summer. The Gibraltar Range waratah (Telopea aspera) Some rare and threatened species that largely rely on shows why it was given its genus name: Telopea means these parks are koala, spotted-tailed quoll (a cat-like ‘seen from afar’. Please leave these spectacular blooms marsupial), parma wallaby, the rabbit-sized rufous for all to enjoy. Christmas bells cover golden swamp and bettong, the long-nosed potoroo and the common sedgeland with bright splashes of scarlet in December. dunnart (a mouse-sized insect eater). These parks also support a large variety of amphibians and reptiles which rely on the diverse habitats to survive. Christmas Bells. Michael Jarman Mulligans Hut, Gibraltar Range National Park. Leah Pippos Superb lyrebird. Brian Ralphs Gondwana Rainforests of Gibraltar Range and Washpool Australia World Heritage National Parks In 1986, the importance of rainforests within Washpool and Gibraltar Range National Parks was recognised by Waking up in nature inclusion in the World Heritage listing of the Gondwana Book for your campground online at Rainforests of Australia. A series of reserves stretching nationalparks.nsw.gov.au or call 1300 072 757. from south east Queensland to Barrington Tops in Mulligans offers vehicle based tent sites with a limited New South Wales, these remnant rainforests protect number of sites suitable for medium sized (up to 6m) thousands of special plants and animals and give a caravans and a walk in group campground. glimpse of what the planet was like millions of years ago. Gibraltar House is a comfortable base from which to Murrumbooee cascades walk. Robert Cleary/DPIE explore Gibraltar Range and neighbouring national parks. It sleeps seven and is fully equipped with toilet, shower, full kitchen and a wood heater. 1. The Needles walk Boundary Falls offers a large open campground which Grade 3: medium can accommodate large groups and caravans over 6 Distance: 6km return, 2.5 hours metres. It has picnic tables and fireplaces. Starting at Mulligans Hut this walk crosses the Little Coombadjha is situated in a grass clearing next to Dandahra creek near one of the weirs built by William Coombadjha Creek. It is a walk-in campground and has Mulligan in the 1920s. The poor granite soils support access to a toilet. a dry forest of New England blackbutt with a thick undergrowth of bush peas, hakeas, banksias and Bellbird is situated in the rainforest and has camping grasstrees. The forest changes to rainforest as the sites for individuals, small groups and small (up to 4 track steadily rises to a view of six granite columns metres) caravans. Facilities include toilets, gas barbecues, rising 80m above the edge of a steep-sided valley picnic tables and fireplaces. dropping into the Little Dandahra Creek. This walk can Grassy Creek is a very basic bush camping area on the be combined with the Tree Fern Forest walk. World Heritage walk and has no facilities. 2. Little Dandahra Creek walk Four Bulls Hut offers a remote accommodation experience Grade 3: easy to medium in the north west part of Washpool National Park. It sleeps Distance: 13km return, 4 hours six and is perfect to escape. the busyness of life. Linking Dandahra picnic area on the highway and Mulligans picnic area, this walk follows the Little Dandahra Creek past wildflowers, grasstrees and interesting rock formations.