Where

Washpool National Park, Gibraltar Range National Park in North Coast, Country NSW

Distance

45km loop

Time suggested

3 - 4 days

Grade

Grade 4

Trip Intention Form

It's a good idea to let someone know where you're going. Fill in a trip intention form to send important details about your trip to your emergency contact.

Personal Locator Beacon

Hire a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) for free at the Glen Innes office.

Entry fees

Park entry fees apply

What to
bring

Drinking water, hat, clothes for all weather conditions, sunscreen, sturdy shoes

Please note

Remember to take your binoculars if you want to go bird watching

Within the mountainous Northern Tablelands, high above Clarence River Valley, a very special track links Gibraltar Range and Washpool National Parks. Gibraltar-Washpool World Heritage walk passes through dramatic and ever-changing natural environments with numerous side track options for further exploration.

Dry eucalypt forests, set amidst ridges and granite tors, are surrounded by sub-alpine swamp. Lush rainforests hold the largest tract of coachwood trees in the world. Waterfalls plummet from a lacework of streams and wild rivers.

In the 1880s, tin mining took place around Grassy Creek and remains of an ore crusher can still be seen along the eastern side of this waterway. O’Hara’s Rock marks the spot where, in 1873, a grazier by that name camped and tried to figure out a faster stock route over Gibraltar Range. Wades Mill, at Boundary Falls campground, dates back to historic logging days.

You can add any or all of the 13 adjoining walks and routes along the way and increase your walking adventure to up to 100km.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Lands of plenty

The European heritage of the park may be shorter, but look around and you'll find its traces clearly etched in the natural environment. Living around the range are direct descendants of graziers, lumberers and miners who made their livings here. Bullock teams and horses once struggled through the bush and granite tors, attempting to tame a landscape that today inspires for its wild ruggedness. Evidence of their work can be glimpsed at Mulligans campground and picnic area, where an aborted hydro-electric scheme from the 1900s is memoralised by a remaining hut and several weirs. Hikers on the wide-reaching Gibraltar-Washpool World Heritage walk might also notice relics of pre-WWII tin and gold-mining operations in the Grassy Creek area.

World Heritage Area

Part of the Gondwana Rainforests Reserves of Australia, Gibraltar Range is listed on the World Heritage register for rainforest plants that have existed since Australia was part of the Gondwana super-continent. Gibraltar Range National Park is home to several threatened species of animal: the endangered giant barred frog, which can grow to the size of a small adult's hand; and glossy black cockatoos, under threat from a loss of breeding habitat. Feeding locations are very important to the continuing survival of the cockatoo.

Years in the making

Long stewarded through history by Aboriginal people in the area, the Gibraltar Range continues to hold significance for contemporary descendants. The Range is rich in cultural sites and sacred places, with Aboriginal groups having moved regularly between the tablelands and coastal plains, conducting ceremonies and gathering food along the way.