Where

Werrikimbe National Park, Willi Willi National Park in North Coast, Country NSW

Distance

122km

Time suggested

8hrs

Grade

Medium

What to
bring

Hat, sunscreen, drinking water

Please note

• Hastings Forest Way is routinely used by logging trucks. Drive to the conditions and move well out of the way to allow trucks to safely pass.
• The weather in this area can be extreme and unpredictable, so please ensure you’re well-prepared for your visit.
• There is limited mobile reception in this park
• Remember to take your binoculars if you want to bird watch

Get away from everything and discover remote bushland on Hastings Forest Way touring route. This scenic drive is a fantastic way to explore the wilderness and falls country of Werrikimbe National Park. Make it a day trip or camp overnight at Brushy Mountain or Plateau Beech campground.

The 122km return touring route from Wauchope to Brushy Mountain climbs from 100m above sea level to 1,100m near Spokes Mountain. The journey takes you through the woodlands and heath, dotted with colourful wildflowers in spring and into ancient Gondwana rainforest.

For rewarding views, make a side-trip to Number 1 Tower picnic area or take your 4WD along the isolated Racecourse trail up the escarpment to Mooraback campground and continue on to Walcha.

Stop to enjoy a peaceful picnic and take advantage of the great birdwatching. You’ll see a range of forest birds such as eastern yellow robins, scarlet robins and rufous fantails.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

An ancient story

Today’s lush rainforests are direct relations of the ancient forests of Gondwana within the Antarctic Circle. Around 80 million years ago, the ancestral continent broke up and Australia started moving north, which eventually reduced most of the rainforests to a narrow strip along south-eastern Australia. As well as World Heritage-listed rainforests, the park protects a diversity of vegetation, including old growth eucalypt forests and open heath. This diverse vegetation provides food and shelter for a medley of creatures; small ground mammals and bats, the endangered Hastings River mouse, the yellow-bellied glider. Australia’s largest marsupial carnivore, the spotted-tailed quoll, also calls Willi Willi home.

Ground beneath our feet

The geology of Willi Willi National Park is for the most part mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate, making the terrain exceptionally steep and rugged. These rocks are more resistant to erosion than the sedimentary beds, making them the cause of such rippled landscapes and the spectacular angles of the park.

The land provides balance

The name Willi Willi National Park is derived from the local Dunghutti Aboriginal word 'willai' meaning possum. The repetition of the word indicates a plural form translating roughly as “many possums”. Dunghutti Aboriginal Nguloongooras (wise elders) would perform secret ‘increase rituals’ on sacred mountain tops such as Kemps Pinnacle, near the western boundary of the park, to extend their food supply. Placing limits on certain species during seasonal variations allowed for a natural increase in food resources. It was the wish of their great deity, Woormprahl, for them to create this balance with nature.