Where

Wallingat National Park in North Coast

Distance

1.7km return

Time suggested

45min - 1hr 15min

Grade

Grade 4

What to
bring

Hat, drinking water, sunscreen

Please note

Remember to take your binoculars if you want to bird watch.

Sugar Creek trail, also known as Hotel Creek track, is a short walk through lush rainforest and dense palm forest. Starting from Sugar Creek picnic area, it’s a nice hike or easy mountain bike trail that the whole family will enjoy.

There is an abundance of wildlife to keep you entertained. You’re bound to spot popular locals such as wallabies, goannas and echidnas. If you’re lucky you might also spot koalas, yellow-bellied gliders and a powerful owl. There are also over 200 bird species found in Wallingat so keep your binoculars handy to get close up views of king parrots, glossy black cockatoos and blue wrens.

Find a place along the way to sit and take in the peaceful sounds of the forest. You can then head back to the picnic area to cook up a storm on the barbecue and relax among the tall cabbage palms and flooded gums.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Ancient footprints

The 6,557ha of Wallingat National Park is part of the identity and spirituality, as well as a resource, for people of the Worimi nation. The Worimi People lived a traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and used the leaves of the cabbage palm for weaving baskets and its fibrous bark for making fishing line. They used many of the area's natural resources, including the freshwater lakes, stone outcrops, and the ocean. A central campsite was known to exist in the area now known as Coomba Park, although there are few other Aboriginal sites recorded within the park include the Bungwahl area.

Fun times

Whether you're after a relaxing time or something more adventurous, Wallingat is just the spot. Take to the gravel roads either on foot, in a car or on a bike – to explore the forests. You can swim, fish and paddle on Wallingat River. Pitch a tent in the campground and get away from it all for a few days in this naturally beautiful setting. Surrounding some of the picnic areas and campsites, you’ll find magnificent stands of trees. In the southeast corner of Wallingat, there are tall, straight flooded gums, as well as stands of cabbage palms. Find both during a walk from Sugar Creek picnic area. Some rare plants such as the liana woody climber, a climbing species that bears white flowers from August to May, can also be found here.

Life among the trees

More than 200 species of birds make Wallingat National Park a home. Walking through forest as well as stands of straight flooded gums, and cabbage palms, you'll hear birds singing. Noisy friarbirds, for instance, have a distinctive 'ya-kob' call, while a 'woop, woop, woop' sound signals the presence of the wonga pigeon. You might see blue wrens flitting through the trees, as well as king parrots and glossy black cockatoos. Wallingat is also a popular spot for the satin bowerbird – the males are black and shiny, the females are a plainer brown. They both, however, have startling lilac eyes.