Tooloom picnic area
Tooloom National Park
Overview
Tooloom picnic area is nestled in a small clearing surrounded by lush Tooloom Scrub in Tooloom National Park. A walking track and scenic lookout can be accessed from here.
- Type
- Picnic areas
- Where
- Tooloom National Park in Country NSW
- Accessibility
- Easy
- What to
bring - Drinking water
- Please note
- Remember to take your binoculars if you want to birdwatch.
- There is limited/no mobile reception in this park.
- Bring your own cooking water.
Whether you’re on a road trip, cycling tour, or based in a nearby town, Tooloom picnic area is a great place to visit. Set in a small clearing within the lush subtropical rainforest of Tooloom Scrub, the picnic area gives you a taster of what’s to come if you decide to explore further on Tooloom walking track. Tooloom lookout, set in a eucalypt forest with sweeping scenic views, is also accessible from the picnic area.
As you enjoy a barbecue lunch with friends, family, or by yourself, listen out for the call of wompoo fruit-doves, which have a deep, resonant ‘wollack-a-woo’ or sometimes just ‘boo’ call. See if you can catch sight of one of these strikingly beautiful large doves, which are predominantly purple, yellow, and green. In summer, look out for the bright red fruit of walking stick palms in the rainforest surrounding the picnic area. In spring, the red tips of new leaves will decorate red cedars, and lime-green shoots can be seen on white cedars.
Map
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Local alerts
For the latest updates on fires, closures and other alerts in this area, see https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/picnic-areas/tooloom-picnic-area/local-alerts
General enquiries
- National Parks Contact Centre
- 7am to 7pm daily
- 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) for the cost of a local call within Australia excluding mobiles
- parks.info@environment.nsw.gov.au
Park info
- in Tooloom National Park in the Country NSW region
Tooloom National Park is always open but may have to close at times due to poor weather or fire danger.
Visitor info
All the practical information you need to know about the Tooloom picnic area.
Getting there and parking
On entering Tooloom National Park, you’ll see Tooloom picnic area.
Road quality
- Sealed roads
Vehicle access
- 2WD vehicles
Weather restrictions
- All weather
Parking
Parking is available on Main Road, a short walk from Tooloom picnic area.
Best times to visit
There are lots of great things waiting for you in Tooloom National Park. Here are some of the highlights.
Autumn
Listen out for calls of pied currawongs signifying the return of colder weather as you find a sunny spot to enjoy a bite to eat or stroll through the rainforest.
Spring
Brilliant new leaf shoots adorn red cedar trees on the upper slopes of the rainforest. In the early morning or following prolonged rain, carpet pythons can be seen basking in the warming spring sun along the entrance road.
Winter
Photograph or simply gaze at the spectacular view when, on a clear winter's day, the farming valley is usually filled with morning mist.
Weather, temperature and rainfall
Summer temperature
Average
16°C and 28°C
Highest recorded
39°C
Winter temperature
Average
3.5°C and 18°C
Lowest recorded
7.3°C
Rainfall
Wettest month
February
Driest month
August
The area’s highest recorded rainfall in one day
210mm
Facilities
Amenities
Picnic tables
Barbecue facilities
You are encouraged to bring gas or fuel stoves, especially in summer during the fire season.
- Wood barbecues (bring your own firewood)
Carpark
Maps and downloads
Accessibility
Disability access level - easy
- This area is fully wheelchair accessible
Prohibited
Gathering firewood
Firewood is not supplied and may not be collected from the park.
Pets
Pets and domestic animals (other than certified assistance animals) are not permitted. Find out which regional parks allow dog walking and see the pets in parks policy for more information.
Smoking
NSW national parks are no smoking areas.
Learn more
Tooloom picnic area is in Tooloom National Park. Here are just some of the reasons why this park is special:
A good scrub
The rainforests of Tooloom Scrub are part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which used to be known as Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. Tooloom is one of the few areas on Earth in which plants and animals have remained relatively unchanged from their ancestors.
- Tooloom lookout It’s a short, easy walk to magnificent scenic views across World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and out to Great Dividing Range from Tooloom lookout.
- Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.
A thriving ecosystem
Feast your eyes on Tooloom’s magnificent forest communities. Subtropical rainforest, with vines stretching from the soft forest floor to the towering green canopy, are dominated by black booyong. Bird’s nest and staghorn ferns decorate broad trunks, live and dead. Hoop pines break through the canopy of dry rainforest on the upper western slopes. In the wet sclerophyll forests old tallowwood and Sydney blue gums grow. Other forest types include forest red gum, New England blackbutt, grey gum and grey iron bark.
- Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.
Full of life
Although there are as many as 13 species of snake, 10 species of macropod (things that hop) and three other species of mammals in Tooloom, they’ve got nothing on the birds. So far, 214 species of bird have been recorded, including paradise riflebirds, wompoo fuit-doves, regent bowerbirds, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, scarlet honeyeaters, endangered black-breasted button quail, and Coxen’s fig-parrot. Endangered animals inhabiting Tooloom are Fleay’s barred frog, and black-striped wallaby.
- Tooloom lookout It’s a short, easy walk to magnificent scenic views across World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and out to Great Dividing Range from Tooloom lookout.
- Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.
Traditional land of the Githabul people
Tooloom National Park is an Aboriginal place and the traditional land of the Githabul people. For thousands of years, these forests provided shelter, food, medicine and tools. Certain features in and around Tooloom remain deeply significant, such as Bandahngan Aboriginal Area (Tooloom Falls), which is 13km east of the park. The Aboriginal word for ‘Tooloom’ is ‘Dooloomi’, which means ‘head lice’ and relates to the story of these falls.