Where

Werrikimbe National Park in North Coast, Country NSW

Accessibility

No wheelchair access

Distance

2km loop

Time suggested

30min - 1hr 30min

Grade

Grade 3

What to
bring

Drinking water, sturdy shoes, suitable clothing

Please note

• It's illegal to gather firewood, pick flowers, take vegetation or remove bush rock from NSW national parks. Please use barbecue facilities provided and help us preserve this World Heritage-listed forest by leaving it as you found it.
• Water is limited or not available in this area, so it's a good idea to bring your own for cooking and drinking.

Step from the open grass of Plateau Beech campground onto King Fern walking track and you'll immediately find yourself in cool, lush rainforest. Savour the deep scent of damp soil and the beauty of sunlight playing through trees.

The diversity of rainforest plants here is astonishing. Magnificent king ferns, crepe ferns, birds nest ferns and a variety of tree ferns are just some of the flora on display. If you look up you can see epiphytic orchids, liverworts and lichens adorning tree trunks and branches.

Part of the ancient World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, this area of Werrikimbe National Park also offers babbling streams, cascades and small waterfalls. Be sure to explore the short side tracks leading to King Fern Falls and Filmy Ferns Cascades.

Spring is a great time to visit as the trees burst into bloom, attracting insects and butterflies. This is also a fantastic opportunity to see some of the park's striking birdlife, including eastern yellow robins, crimson rosellas, olive whistlers and superb lyrebirds. In Autumn, after good rains, the park's waterfalls are at peak splendour and vibrant rainforest colours receive an extra boost from lush mosses and fungi.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

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Abundant landscapes

You'll find three different rainforest types; cool temperate, warm temperate and subtropical. The park also contains significant endangered ecological communities, like at Bishops Swamp and Racecourse Swamp. Head to Mooraback campground to see the snow gum woodland that is slowly regenerating from over 100 years of grazing.

Thousands of species

There are close to 1,000 plant species found in Werrikimbe, including nearly 30 that are listed as rare or threatened. The diverse landscapes of Werrikimbe are home to a wide range of wildlife including around 52 species of mammals, over 120 bird species and 48 species of reptiles and amphibians. You'll see bandicoots, eastern grey kangaroos and wallabies including the rare parma wallaby, sometimes seen around Brushy Mountain. You'll also find a range of forest birds such as eastern yellow robins, scarlet robins, grey and rufous fantails. If you're lucky, you might spot rare species such as the olive whistler, rufous scrub-bird and sooty owl.

Traditional lands of the Dungutti People

When you're exploring the beautiful mountains, rivers and bushlands of Werrikimbe National Park, you're on the traditional lands of the Dungutti Aboriginal People. Aboriginal groups continue to have an active role in the management of the park. There are a number of important sites in the park that show that Dungutti people are the original inhabitants of this land, including several stone arrangements and surface deposits of stone artefacts.

World Heritage wonder

The rainforests in Werrikimbe National Park are part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area; the most extensive strip of diverse rainforest anywhere on earth. This World Heritage Area is a direct window into the past and the future, providing a link to the ancient pre-human world and an irreplaceable record of life on our planet. Explore the rainforest on one of the park's many walking tracks, like King Fern walking track from Plateau Beech campground. Discover ancient Antarctic beech trees and listen for the lyrebird whose mimicking calls ring out through the rainforest.