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New England NSW - ArmidaleQuick Links: Track Notes - Hazards - Low Impact Bushwalking
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Tell-tale leftovers from a 19th century hydroelectricity system include flume lines and an old weir. |
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Some of the wildlife in the area - brush-tailed rock wallaby, bearded dragon and a nobbi. |
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On early morning walks you may be lucky enough to see the elusive brush-tailed rock wallaby. This walk in the warmer months is great for viewing various dragons, including the bearded and the nobbi. Eastern water dragons can be seen around larger rock pools.
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The Gara River is a tributary of the Macleay River. In the upper reaches |
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From the town centre of Armidale, head south along Marsh St, as far as you can go. Turn left into Kentucky St, and then approximately 200 m further on, turn right into Dangarsleigh Rd. Follow the road for about 6 km until you come to an intersection with a war memorial on the left. Instead of proceeding straight ahead, turn left onto a dirt road. Follow this for about 12 km through farming properties until you come to the entrance of the national park. It is approximately another 2 km down a hill.
From the carpark, it is possible to view the spectacular Dangars Falls and its Gorge from a wheelchair friendly walk of about 100 m which leads gently down to a viewing platform. The photo (below right) has been taken of Dangars Falls after heavy rain from this platform.
After parking your car, look for the Salisbury Waters Track sign. As you cross the footbridge keep an eye out for various waterbirds, water skinks and dragons. In spring a beautiful white bottlebrush can be seen growing amongst the rocks. If you are there early in the morning, you may see Brush-tailed rock wallabies.
Follow the well-graded walking track through a small gully. As it rises, you will come to a fence line. The Falls lookout is just on the other side. Continue on for a short distance and you will come to another lookout which enables you to see right down the Dangars Gorge. Retrace your steps if not continuing. The track continues out to Mihi Falls and Salisbury Waters.
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There are several secure lookouts which give views of Dangars Falls. In the photo above, one of these lookouts can be seen in the top left hand corner. The photo was taken from the Lookout after crossing the footbridge. |
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The echidna, glossy black cockatoo and the lyrebird were all photographed |
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This is a beautiful area on a long plateau which juts out into the Chandler and Macleay River Gorges. It is one of the best places to access a dry rainforest and to see lyrebirds There are BBQ's, picnic tables, a toilet, water, shelter shed and a designated camping area. The area is well worth a 2 night stay. Two walks are described below.
Access
Access to Long Point is east along the Waterfall Way, 27 km from Armidale. A T-intersection is reached with a sign pointing to the right to the historic gold mining village of Hillgrove. Whilst little is left of the original township, the community have erected information signs which point out interesting aspects of the once thriving town. There is also a small museum here. The hydroelectric scheme remnants on the Threlfall Walk once serviced this village.
Near the end of the village, look for the Oxley Wild Rivers/Long Point sign and turn left. The park entrance is about 18 km along the road. Just before the park entrance, at the 15 km mark you will need to go through a gate. Ensure that the gate is left as you find it. The Long Point Rest Area where the walks begin is approximately 3 km from the park entrance.
Extended Walk from Long Point to the Chandler River to Wollomombi
Rating: medium
This loop walks starts at the Long Point shelter shed. It descends a slight hill down into a sheltered rocky area which supports dry rainforest vegetation. It is one of the best places to see World Heritage listed dry rainforest which is often not accessible due to its habit of clinging to steep, rocky gorges. Mock olives, giant stinging trees and various vines and lianas will be encountered. After rain, there is often an explosion of various fungi species. On almost every visit you can hear (and sometimes see) lyrebirds mimicking kookaburras, currawongs and rosellas. The kookaburra takeoff is hilarious! After walking along the rainforest floor for a short distance, the track begins to gently wind upward and a view opens up to the left into the Bakers Creek valley which winds down from Hillgrove.
Eucalypt forest with a hop bush understory is then walked through and you may see the Hillgrove gum with its fantastically coloured bark! The road which you drove in on near the park entrance is then crossed. A short distance down this track and you will come to a spectacular lookout over the Chandler River gorge. The track continues until you cross over the road again, past the camping area to the shelter shed.
Whilst the walk is not difficult there are some undulating sections. Care should be taken with slippery surfaces through the rainforest after rain.
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After rain there is often an explosion of |
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This easy walk leaves the shelter shed on its left along the gorge rim and provides fabulous views over Bakers Creek and the Macleay River. In springtime and summer you may see the golden colours of the flowering cassinia which is very common in the park and after which this walk is named.
The spectacular view over the Macleay Gorges from the Cassinia Walk.
The walk described below has been taken from personal diaries of this trip undertaken in October, 2007. This is a challenging walk and should be undertaken only by experienced bushwalkers with fellow experienced members of a club or group. It has an extremely steep descent into the Chandler River gorge and an equally steep ascent at the end at Wollomombi. Walkers must be completely self reliant and fully equipped for all contingencies. Contact the rangers at the Armidale office of NSWNPWS for advice.
Enmore 9236-1-S - 1:25 000, NSW Gov 1983
Big Hill 9336-IV-S - 1:25 000, NSW Gov 1983
Jeogla 9336-4-N - 1:25 000, NSW Gov, 1989
This is one of the best river walks in NSW. It highlights beautiful casuarina forests, dry rainforest species in some sections especially the pink flowering yellow wood and numerous species of fig, giant stinging trees and lianas and vines; cascading and still river pools of the Chandler River; steep cliffs and gorge walls which become narrower as you progress upstream,; beautiful river terraces and a wide variety of wildlife including various water bird species, rosellas, kookaburras, eagles, Rainbow bee-eaters, lyrebirds, Wonga pigeons, kangaroos and wallabies, echidnas, many species of snake and lizards, tortoises and platypus, and fish and frogs in the river pools. There is very little weed and insects were not a problem in October with temperatures in the gorges being mild. I used a fly sheet and groundsheet only, which was adequate. You need to be mindful of a few herds of feral cattle and horses. We did have one bull which decided to charge us.
No matter which ridge you use it is a steep descent with about a 600-650m fall in elevation. The ridges often have loose scree slopes, rocks and small boulders and great care needs to be taken not to slip or fall, especially with a heavy pack. I am short and ended up holing my shorts as I spent a bit of time sliding on rocks, rather than risking falling by standing in some sections.
Although on the NPWS website it says this walk can be done in 3 days, which it could, after starting on a Sunday (including using Sunday morning for the car shuffle of approximately 50 km), we took our time and came up early on Thursday morning. The walk up is not best done in the afternoon as the track bears the brunt of the full western sun and it can be unbearably hot. It is much better done in the cooler, early hours of the morning.
This walk was conducted using a car shuffle from Wollomombi Falls, to where we gained permission from local landholders to park our car adjacent to a farm dam next to the gravel road at the Long Point Trig (999m). There are a few access points down other ridges than the one we used. If in doubt speak to the rangers at the NPWS office in Armidale. Permission should be gained from the owners of the Springvale property, which is where we started. The ridge we used starts at just before Grid Square:0505 (Big Hill), heads in a north easterly direction until it turns virtually north and down the steepest section. About three quarters of the way down the steepest section, an old fence line appears on the left and continues almost down to the bottom. It was very hot on our descent and as there was a beautiful swimming hole where we reached the bottom, we threw ourselves into the water and camped on the adjacent river terrace for the night. There was a very large dead tree here which rainbow bee-eaters used as their lookout and perch and there were several of their nest holes in the embankment.
During the first night, not long after dinner, the thunder which we had been hearing in the distance, grew louder and closer with its best friend, Lightning. Throughout the night, the rumbling and light show continued on and off with some rain. My old but reliable fly was pretty good and I managed to keep dry.
The next morning the intermittent storms continued until lunchtime. We headed upstream and it wasn't long until we reached the Oakey River where it joined the Chandler. It was much smaller than I expected although it is dammed up on the plateau and I suppose it restricts the flow of water to a large degree.
As we continued, we passed many beautiful pink flowering trees of the deep yellow-wood (Rhodosphaera rhodanthema), fig trees and various vines and lianas in between trees. These were our first glimpse of that wonderful rare habitat - the dry rainforest. Interspersed amongst casuarinas and eucalypts, it is one of the rainforest types protected in the World Heritage Listed CERRA (Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) of Oxley Wild Rivers and numerous other national parks up the coastal escarpment into Queensland.
We walked about 10 kms today and marvelled at the fantastic reflections of the river and the gorge.
Magnificent casuarina forests like the one above lined the Chandler River.
Every turn of the river usually meant a crossing as the cliff line on one side reached the river, necessitating a crossing over to the other side. River walks go hand in hand with wet feet, so it's always a good idea to bring a pair of thongs to wear around camp while your boots/shoes dry.
The next day we saw a number of animals including kangaroos, wallabies, lyrebirds, a goanna (which proved to be a very good swimmer and diver) and a blue-tongued lizard. A number of water birds were disturbed including a family of woodducks, with chicks and adults panicking and scattering to the four winds. Masked lapwings or plovers constantly cried out their warnings. when we got too close. On one occasion we also saw a soaring sea eagle which seemed quite out place here. At first we thought it may have been a juvenile wedge-tail but it was smaller and much whiter than any wedge tails I have ever seen. I did toy with the idea of an albino wedge-tail but quickly dismissed the idea. Added to this list was a beautiful echidna. I find the New England very rich in these animals and if they do not detect you, show their amazing, tenacious stubbornness in finding those ants, termites and grubs.
Our second day brought rich river flats between Kirkwoods Creek, and Slaughetrhouse Gully. These terraces and forests along them were magnificent. We had numerous tree types including casuarinas, eucalypts and angophoras. I was also constantly amazed at the colour and variety of different species of fungi, we found not only on decaying wood, but also in the ground.
A variety of fungi exists not only in the casuarina forests but also in the dry rainforests
Our third day saw a beautiful rocky section of the Chandler, with cascading pools and the most beautiful lime green algae, flowing through the crystal clear water like ribbons Adjacent to this was another magnificent casuarina forest (the image of one of these forests is shown above). The contrast of the pale rocks, lime green, crystal clear water and the azure sky provided the most wonderful photographc opportunities as well as a great lunch spot.
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Beautiful ribbons of algae flow with the current in the transparent water. The Chandler has beautiful drinking water. |
It was necessary to criss cross the river over and over at every bend as cliffs reach the water's edge. |
By the Wednesday, our progress upstream had become slower as the river gorge began to narrow. Many rocks had to be clambered over and criss-crossing the river became more frequent. About a kilometre before reaching St Helena Creek, a fantastic, rocky cliff line came into view on the eastern side of the river. One of these rocky outcrops known from the Jeogla map as Church Rock was clearly visible. While the choice of campsites were numerous on our previous nights, from here on, flat sites were more limited and few and far between. We camped close to St Helena Creek for our last night. Instead of the more familiar boobook owl that we had on most other nights we had to put up with the more worrying sound of falling rocks throughout the night. Rock wallabies move from the bottom of gorges to the tops during the evenings and early mornings, so we assumed it must have been these animals causing the occasional rocks to fall. Some of these rocks were punctuated at the end of their fall with a splash as they tumbled into the river. It's the only time on my life I had even remotely thought I might die under a rockfall.
I left ahead of the others at 6 the next morning and agreed to meet up with the group at the bottom of the exit ladders at Wollomombi. I really enjoyed the solitude of the early morning light, was quiet enough to see a platypus in one of the pools and an unsuspecting Wonga pigeon foraging in amongst the rocks. Passed St Helena Creek on the left and rounded the last major bend before reaching the ladders. It was amazing how quickly the gorge narrowed even further they they had the previous evening.
Not wanting to have an early morning pack swim, there is one small section of rock that needs to be climbed over. Luckily some other walkers had put an old tree trunk at the bottom of the last rock outcrop which made it easier to get over (especially for a shortie like me). Care should be taken here as the rocks can be very slippery. I had to take my pack off to get over. (But then I have a very acute self preservation button!!!!)
At the bottom of the exit, the route is very obvious with a number of steel ladders bolted into the rock at the beginning of the climb up. Past the ladders, the track, which is rough in some places, winds back and forth dozens of times in switchbacks. Just when you think you're almost at the top, a magnificent view up the Wollomombi Gorge comes into view, before rising steeply again up the ridge line. I did think that the rangers who put in this track really have to be admired. It would have been an incredibly difficult and potentially dangerous track to build.
On the way up signage explains where you are and how much further you have to go, for the 2.5 km ascent.
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The further up the river you go, the narrower and rockier the gorge becomes. |
Wollomombi Gorge is steep, including the exit ridge that has to be walked up. |
The Wollomombi Gorge Area is one of the busiest tourist stops on the Waterfall Way. It affords views of the great gorge where the the Wollomombi and Chandler Rivers tumble over the escarpment, meet, and continue as the Chandler River. This meets the Macleay River further towards Long Point. It allows you to walk along the Gorge rim to the Wollomombi River as well as allowing access to the bottom of the Chandler River via a steep and windy descent.
Access
Access to the area is 38 km east of Armidale or, approximately 90 km west of Dorrigo (via Ebor) along the Waterfall Way. It is well signposted. After reaching the turnoff, it is a 1.5 km drive through a farm to get to the carpark.(legal access)
1. Wollomombi Lookout Platform - 300 m return
2. Checks Lookout - 1 km return
3. Wollomombi Walk - 4 km return
4. Chandler River Walk ( to the river at the gorge bottom) - 5 km return
(please note this walk is currently closed from the Wollomombi Falls end)
1. Wollomombi Lookout Platform - 300 m return
Rating - easy
This walk is suitable for all levels of fitness and for wheelchairs. It offers breathtaking views of the Wollomombi Gorge. This spectacularly cut gorge was created by the Wollomombi River (to the right when you look at it from the lookout) and the Chandler River (to the left, from the lookout). Both these rivers provide catchment water to the Macleay River system. Although best viewed after rain, it is still an amazing sight at any time!
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The spectacular Wollomombi Gorge |
2. Checks Lookout - 1 km return
Rating - easy
This walk can be extended from the Wollomombi Lookout Platform walk, which is 150 m from the shelter shed. Continue on for another 350 m or so, and an alternate and wider vista of the gorge opens up. There are many birds on this walk. If you're lucky, you may see a wedge-tailed eagle!
3. Wollomombi Walk - 4 km return
Rating - easy
The sign from the main shelter shed points to the west for this walk. It is a pleasant walk through woodland, a dingo fence (which is a reminder that sheep farmers still have to contend with wild dog mixes), past giant termite mounds and along the gorge rim to the Wollomombi River and then to the top of Chandler Falls. Return the same way.
4. Chandler River Walk ( to the river at the bottom) - 5 km return
(please note this walk is currently closed from the Wollomombi Falls end)
Rating - hard
This is a great walk for the fit and determined down a very steep and windy track to the bottom of the the gorge to the Chandler River. In summer, from about midday onwards, it is very exposed to the hot western sun, without a great deal of shade, so ensure you take plenty of water with you.
This track is signposted near the shelter shed. It passes Checks Lookout and further on, Chandler Lookout, both of which offer great views in their own right of the gorge system. After passing the Chandler Lookout, the track begins to descend in a zigzag fashion, all the way to the bottom.
Once there, it allows further multi-day walks to further upstream up the gorge or downstream along the Chandler River, with an exit point at Long Point. (a car shuffle would be required).
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The Chandler River, taken from the Chandler River track. |
The Wollomombi Walk passes over the Wollomombi River, before plunges to the gorge. |
• Most of the roads in the national parks and Styx River State Forest are gravel. Modify your speed to suit the road conditions. After heavy rain, roads can be slippery, so take care! On the way out to Long Point there is a small causeway that can flash flood. There are several foot bridges over creeks and rivers. Do not cross if water is over the bridge.
• Check the condition of the gates on the way out to Long Point. Always leave gates the same way as you find them.
• Take extreme care when crossing creeks or around waterfalls after heavy rain.
• Take care with fallen trees on the road, especially during strong winds or storms. Trees can fall and block the road for short periods of time.
• Take care not to collide with animals especially between dusk and early morning. There are large numbers of kangaroos and wallabies in the parks. You will also encounter the occasional tortoise, echidna and dragon lizards.
• Most of the New England plateau is +1000m. Hypothermia (the body loses its ability to keep warm) is caused from wet/windy/cold conditions. In the cooler months make sure you carry sensible clothing on day walks, especially for children or very thin people. Take woollen or thermal clothing, including hats and gloves, and wind/waterproof jackets. Avoid heavy cotton garments like jeans and sloppy joes which do not keep the body warm when wet. Nights in winter often fall below zero and very occasionally it snows. Make sure you have enough warm clothes and appropriate camping equipment.
• Sunburn in the warmer months is one of the major hazards of walking in this area. Wear sunglasses, long sleeves and pants, hat and 30+ sunscreen liberally applied. This will also protect against any prickly shrubs or grasses.
• Wear supportive shoes/boots.Tracks can be slippery. Some of the walks are very close to cliffs, deep gorges and high drop-offs near waterfalls, some without fencing. Take particular care with children.
• Focus on where you place your feet and hands. Snakes are common around wet areas and long grass. You may want to consider wearing gaiters if you are doing off track walks. I have seen brown, death adders and red-bellied black snakes in the New England.
• Carry at least 2 litres of water per person, especially in summer.
•Take great care with fire in summer. Use a fuel stove or gas BBQ's provided in picnic grounds. If in an area where open fires are permitted, keep them small and use any fireplaces provided. Always extinguish fires before going to bed or leaving the area. Watch for flying embers in windy weather.
Extended Walk from Long Point to the Chandler River to Wollomombi
• If descending into the Chandler River, be very careful of loose rocks and scree slopes. It can be dangerous for the person walking below you. It is very easy to have a serious fall.
• There are wild cattle and horses in the Chandler River Gorge. While generally avoiding humans, bulls and stallions will attack if they are protecting their herds.
• There are many occasions on the Chandler River where you have to scramble over rocks. Take care not to slip. Just below the exit to Wollomombi you may need to pass packs over the last section of rocks as walkers scramble over. This exit has wash outs and fallen trees on the track. Take care as it is a very steep track. (This track is closed to walkers from the Wollomombi end)
© 2007 - Sharon Fulcher - WalksAustralia.com
