Hiking around Gloucester area for newbies...

[chrispreist]

Hey,

I'm from the UK and will be in Aus in August - my wife is visiting an old friend of hers who lives near Gloucester, NSW. While she and the little one hang out there for a few days, I am hoping that I and my 13 yr old son can get a bit of hiking in. I've been looking at the National Parks info site for places like Willi Willi and Barrington Tops, but finding little specific info.

Can any of you recommend good day hikes and overnighters in that region, appropriate for August time? And pointers to more general info about what we need to do to prepare / take that may be different from what we are used to in the UK would be welcome. We are confident hikers, but completely new to the bush...

Thanks in advance for any tips,

Chris

[Onestepmore]

I've tried to plan trips overseas and I appreciate it can be a bit hard getting information.
I've not walked there personally but imagine it's going to be pretty cold in August. It's got a reasonable elevation (over 1500 m), and can snow. I had a look and average temp in winter is between 7 and 12 deg C.
Here are some links I found after a very brief search

http://kevinswilderness.com/NSW/tops.html
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/natio ... x?id=N0002
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/bar ... isual-tour
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/bar ... ravel-info

I'm sure there are some local walkers here on the forum who can give you some first hand knowledge though.

[Rob A]

Try this link http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/natio ... x?id=N0002 Im not sure why it doesnt light up on OSMs post?
Have a squiz at any of the embedded maps which will be found under the various walks track heading "Location Shown on Park Map". Sorry I cant screenshot where I am. You can zoom from Aust, NSW, Local, Park, Sector. From there I guess you could start googling specific walks on private blogs.

When you are in town, Parks themselves have an office at 59 Church St Gloucester, and they are used to people dropping in for sixty questions sessions.

Ps .. ahh ok, OSM your links are only half live.

[forest]

When you are in town, Parks themselves have an office at 59 Church St Gloucester, and they are used to people dropping in for sixty questions sessions.

Yeh I'd go see the local office when you get there.

In August it does snow up there on a regular basis.
Plenty of walking options but find out about the Rd conditions into either Gloucester or Barrington tops first. (Both are different National parks with different Rd's into them)
The Rd into Gloucester tops has some river crossings that can be too high for a car to drive over after heavy rain.
The Rd across Barrington tops can be closed often mid winter due to snow. Definately take care up there even if the Rd's open as it can be pretty icy in sections once your up there.

If camping up there above 1100m expect temps around the -5°C mark at night, might be colder though if it's clear (I have seen -12°C at Wombat Creek)
Lovely place to go. Even just for the day I can recommend the drive from Gloucester up Pole Blue in Barrington Tops. Lot's of smaller walks around there within the park.
Another day trip could be up to Gloucester Falls in Gloucester National Park.
Again, get some local info on Rd conditions first before heading off.

I had a look and average temp in winter is between 7 and 12 deg C.

Is that temperature range for the actual tops or just somewhere like Moonan Flats, Lostock etc ? It's pretty hard to find decent info on the temperature up there.
Barrington Tops is quite a bit higher than most of the local places you can get a weather report on. I've been up there when people are lucky to get out of the car, go brrrr, then climb back in. Some brave occupant will wander outside and comment on the weather and that the report online for Barrington Tops said 10°C. Often it's around 0-3°C at Pole Blue in winter. For some reason it just get's this cold misty haze over it. Me, I love it !!

[Onestepmore]

That temp was from the NP site.
Good info Forest - that area is on my wishlist for walking!
I've been around Moonan Flat, driven over the unfenced top in spring (yes there was still snow on the ground). I spent a couple of Uni holidays working on a sheep and cattle property called Glenrock Station, north of Moonan Flat and the Packer polo property Ellerston. Beautiful country - but pretty rugged.

[colinm]

My son did his green cord hike (scouts, final hike) from Pol Blue to Lagoon Pinch over three days, and regards it as the best hike he's ever done - fresh water, beautiful scenery. Even though the plateau part of the walk was on 4WD tracks, they were wrecked by the end of it - descending the Corker Trail was hard work.

Point being that some 15 year old kids could do it, so an adult would have no problem, see some beautiful things, and do a cross-section of the available terrain.

Having said that, the logistics of that walk were a killer (relied upon me and the missus driving the considerable distance to circumnavigate the park to pick 'em up again.) So a wander around Pol Blue (to Wombat Ck, whatchamacallit peak, airplane hill) might be the go.

[davidmorr]

First of all, as others have said, it will be cold. If it is going to snow up there, the first week of August is when it is likely to be.

So you may want to look at lower level walks. Some that come to mind are:

There are several shorter walks around the Gloucester River camping area on the road to Gloucester Tops (goes off the main road a bit south of Gloucester).

If you want to drive around to Salisbury via Dungog, there is a really nice walk through the rainforest up the Williams River to Rocky Crossing. There is also a shorter loop walk from the parking area that crosses the river on a bridge and goes upstream a way.

If you head out on the road towards Scone, just before you begin the big climb up Copeland Tops, there is the Mountain Maid gold mine off on a short road to the left. The mine is unfortunately no longer working (it was a very interesting trip), but you can walk upstream along the creek along a number of official tracks, visiting relics of the gold mining days. If you carry on to the end, you come out on a fire trail. If you follow it to the left it goes up the hill to get views out over the surrounding area.

Woko NP has a nice camping area beside a river, and there is a short loop walk up into the rainforest.

The coast is only a couple of hours drive away, and there are a fair number of walks in those NPs.

Talk to the tourist office or national parks office in Gloucester to get brochures and maps and probably other suggestions.

[kjbeath]

If you are interested in Willi Willi then Werrikimbe is an option as well. Still cold but not as cold as Barrington. The Mooralback area is very nice.

Alternatively to see nice rainforest head through Dungog to the Williams River day use area and walk along the river to Rocky Crossing and return. If the weather is nice a day walk from Lagoon Pinch up the Corker to Careys Peak is excellent for the fit. It may snow if the weather is not good.

As others have suggested walks at Gloucester River and Gloucester Tops are nice but possibly a bit cold on the tops and you may have ice.

Our coastal areas can be very nice in winter if the weather is good. Myall Lakes (Seal Rocks is especially nice), Booti Booti and Crowdy Bay are all good.

[JohnDaly TakeAWalk]

Our old book Take A Walk in a National Park - Sydney to Port Macquarie (now only available as an e-book) details several day walks and multi-day walks in the Barrington Tops, Gloucester Tops area.
We are currently working on a new book for Northern NSW and will be walking some new tracks and rewalking the old tracks between May and June. Yes it will be cold I know!
We are also hoping to reactivate the Tops to Myall Walk this trip if we can come up with a work around (walk around) to bypass the coal mine property, and then work out a safe crossing of the new Pacific Highway. We'll definitely have an answer by August. Cheers John

[kjbeath]

John's books are available at http://www.takeawalk.com.au The Port Macquarie to Brisbane covers Werrikimbe and Willi Willi nicely, except I think the track to Dingo Knob is closed.

[JohnDaly TakeAWalk]

Yes the Dingo Knob Track is closed at Platypus Pool. We were down there last month checking out the walks and we tried to get to Dingo Knob from a different direction but were blocked by incredibly thick tea-tree regrowth so we had to abort it.
I spoke to the local rangers since and they found Phytophthora (cinamon fungus) there, so that's why it's closed. John