Experience a unique Australian rainforest environment at Dorrigo National Park. It’s a wonderful place to reconnect with nature and enjoy a relaxing walk under the canopy of the cool ancient forest.
The park sits high on the Dorrigo Plateau, and is less than an hours drive from the coast.
Forming part of the Gondwana Rainforests, the Dorrigo National Park has densely forested ancient tree ranges. In addition to the rainforest vegetation, there are breathtaking views and majestic waterfalls, the perfect ingredients for a bush adventure.
Driving up from Bellingen on Waterfall Way, we arrived at the parks Rainforest Centre, and headed for the famous Skywalk lookout. Suspended 21 metres above the rainforest, the panoramic views of the Rosewood trees are fantastic and a great place to see the surrounding rolling hills.
Looking down from the platform, you can see the scale of the park and its deep valleys and gorges. The bird’s-eye view from this vantage point puts the landscape in perspective, and you can appreciate how dense the old forest is.
The Wonga walking track
Next, we followed the 6km looped Wonga walk circuit, heading for the waterfalls. Most of the walking tracks in the park can be walked within a few hours. Most of the tracks are relatively easy to navigate, although some have short, steep sections.
Walking deep into the forest you can feel the coolness envelope you. It is alive with birdsong and you can see the birds flitting about in the rainforests canopy. We were astounded by the size – their girth was huge – and age of the trees, some of which are over 600-years-old.
Don’t forget to look up at the giant tree canopy, and take in the enormity of the forest. Take a minute to breathe in and absorb the fresh forest air. We loved the visual harmony of the forest, with the layered green tones of the ferns, leaves and lichen and the gnarled wood of the old trees.
At the halfway point of our walk, we cross the suspension bridge to reach the Crystal Shower Falls. A short side track takes you under the rocks and behind the waterfall, where you can look through the veil of water as it falls. It’s a magical standing there, with the sound of the water falling into into pool below.
Gondwana Rainforests
The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, are the most extensive area of subtropical rainforest in the world. Collectively, the rainforests are a World Heritage Site with fifty separate reserves totalling 366,500 hectares from Newcastle to Brisbane. The Gondwana Rainforests are the only places on earth where you can walk beneath the canopies of the ancient world. Find out more on the National Parks website.
Our local tip
Drive onto the town of Dorrigo for a real country town experience! Big wide streets, old fashioned coffee shops with that unmistakable Aussie country town vibe.
From Dorrigo, we continued on Waterfall Way to Armidale in the Northern tablelands. Armidale is a large inland country town, with plenty of pubs and is home to a large university. We like university towns, they typically have a vibrant cultural scene. The town is picturesque with beautiful leafy streets and lovely old homes, with the backdrop of a rural country landscape.
As this story forms part of our New south Wales road trip, we will have more stories from our travels in NSW on the blog soon. In the meantime, you can pop over the Postcards section for more travel tips and inspiration.
Location
