Barrington Tops best car campsite & a walk-in

[Neo]

G'day looking to check out Barrington Tops on my way south in a week or two.
Looking for suggestions if you know which campsite (of the 9) is nice to visit? Would also like to possibly leave vehicle there and do an overnight walk to another spot for the second night etc.
Have only started to research. I'll approach via Glouster. Cheers
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/vi ... ional-park

[Neo]

So looks like a walk of the Link Trail to Wombat creek for an overnighter. Park it at the locked gate/foot wash near the secret hut.
Some off track to a falls just south or maybe venture further along.
The Corker Trail sounds good but me legs have been lazy lately!

[Xplora]

Not sure if NPWS have changed the sign at the beginning of the Link Trail. The distance seemed to be way out (too far). It is a good walk and quicker to get to than the Corker if you are coming in from the North. Selby Alley hut is also a nice place to camp with good water but the waterfall can be loud at times and there are large rodents in the hut. Don't leave anything in the hut and that includes saucepans. You would need a ground sheet under your tent also.

[awildland]

Hope this is not too late for you Neo. So for car camping we would definitely recommend the Gloucester Tops section of the park. There is a campground on the Gloucester River at the base of the mountains. It is very nice and never too packed. It has a couple of rainforest walks but it is best to then drive 20km up into the mountains to Gloucester Falls for walking tracks and waterfalls - would recommend joining the River Track and the Antarctic Beech Walk for a good 7-8km loop. Nice swimming spots above Gloucester Falls. The nicest campsite in the Barrington Tops section of the park is definitely Polblue, the road running straight through from Gloucester to Scone over Barrington Tops has nice lookouts along the way and short walks. These are the two nicest campgrounds in the park, the others are fairly basic, muddy and rutted by 4WD traffic.

For an overnight walk, yes you can do the Link Track from Gloucester Tops (from the locked gate/footwash station) to Wombat Creek campground. It is 17km one way. We walked it last week and it is a pretty walk, although originally a fire trail it is becoming more like a foot track as the forest grows back. No views along the way but it is lovely antarctic beech forest and relatively flat walking. Once at Wombat Creek campground it is a 3km return trip to Careys Peak with fantastic views east (if the clouds oblige) and if you have energy left. You have to return the way you came via the Link Track.

From Polblue you could do a 12km road walk out to Junction pools for an overnight camp. Or alternatively, if you have 4WD or a sturdy AWD, you could drive into Junction Pools - it is a slow, rocky drive that needs some clearance and gets a bit slippery after rain. From Junction Pools there is then a loop walk you can do, 8km to Carey's Peak via the Edwards Swamp Track then 5km back via the Aeroplane Hill track. You can camp at Carey's Hut, near Careys Peak although water is not easily or readily accessible and you would probably be advised to carry enough if overnighting, or you could side trip to camp at Wombat Creek.

There is a NPWS office in Gloucester open weekdays 9-5 with good maps and all the walks I mention will make sense when you see their map. topos are available at the Gloucester Tourist Info Centre which is open 7 days.

Over the southern side of the park, out of Dungog, there are nice rainforest sections. Highlights over there are the Williams River (walking track from Blue Gum Loop to Rocky Crossing, the river is very photogenic, particularly just down stream of Rocky Crossing if you are happy to swim through some short canyons, no ropes required). Also from there you can drive across to the Allyn River which is state forest (and occasionally draws a bogan camping crowd) but it is a scenic drive out past Lady's Well, another pretty swimming hole and cascade. Another nice trip from that section is up to the Burraga Swamp walking trail and Mount Allyn - you would need AWD or 4WD. All these points are marked on NPWS maps and website. Good luck, have fun.

[Neo]

Great info, thanks!

[Neo]

It was a nice walk and plenty to get me going again.
eTrex says 15km from the gate to Wombat Ck (but also said moving time 55 minutes). A steady 4hrs for me plus stops, a bit quicker on the return the next day.

Saw a yellow-belly an hour in which made me cautious at every damp or grassy patch. Easy to follow track about 50% flat and the rest steady incline/decline.

A bit lumpy near the creek so pitched up near the loo and other footwash. Nice water from the creek, I used UV.

Plenty of black cockatoos, parrots, a few kookaburras and several other birds a couple of which I haven't noticed before. Heard something then saw fresh wombat cubes on the way out.

Forcast close to 40 for the weekend so I skipped Mt Royal and headed for the Colo River.

Barrington would be good to do as two parties, meeting and swapping car keys along the way to make a through journey

Edit: arrived a bit early to camp so drove past the campground and just parked at the start overnight

[kjbeath]

The yellow-bellied would almost certainly be a Tiger snake, an even better one to avoid.

[Neo]

No stripes... About a metre long and shiny black, looked like a red-belly but yellow.

[Xplora]

No need for defined stripes. I have seen lots of Tigers on that track.

[awildland]

No stripes... About a metre long and shiny black, looked like a red-belly but yellow.

I think we saw that exact same snake!!!

[Ms_Mudd]

A bit lumpy near the creek so pitched up near the loo and other footwash. Nice water from the creek, I used UV.

Have noticed a few people camping up closer to the trail/loos on the flat this year. You are right, it is less lumpy and more open. I saw a Tarptent Stratospire ?1-2? up there a few trips ago and so wanted to check it out, but the occupants must have been out day walking so I just admired from a far.

The Corker isn't that bad - once you get past the first 2km out of the carpark where you will be hating yourself for choosing to walk it It is a nice way in, close to Dungog, I love how the landscape changes as you ascend.

[Neo]

Must be a bit wild uo there at the moment! Will try the Corker next time I head north.

[Xplora]

Must be a bit wild uo there at the moment! Will try the Corker next time I head north.

If you do the Corker then start from where the old guest house was instead of driving to the gate. Easy walking and great forest. Mind the leaches. Living in the Vic High country now, I would not call the Corker hard. It is constant though but not too far. Just do not go when big westerly winds are forecast as it is quite exposed in places.

[Ms_Mudd]

I agree that the Corker isn't that bad - you will most likely hate yourself for the first 1.5-2km straight out of the car park at Lagoon Pinch, but after that the terrain gets more interesting and the incline less relentless 'up', with some little sections of respite. Selby Allen Hut makes for a nice detour/point of interest.

Car shuffling not much of a go-er across the many access points to walks in the Barrington area, as the distances by road are huge and time-consuming. To that end, the Corker is a good entry point, as once up on the plateau you have plenty of trails and places to visit to amuse yourself and then zoom back down to your car when done.

I also agree that walking from the Williams River carpark along Rocky Crossing trail is a very nice way to start the Corker, however, I would only tend to do that if overnighting on the plateau- it adds just that bit too much onto it for a daywalk for my tastes- I like a nice leisurely cuppa and meal break once up the Corker. A daywalk up to Carey's Peak from the Corker with a break takes about 6.5ish hours on it's own for me, so adding anything extra becomes a bit too pushed for time for my enjoyment as a daywalk.

Flipping freezing up there at the moment, but the benefit is that all the roads are closed to cars until the long weekend at the start of October, so you have that section of the NP largely to yourself and any other hardy (nutso) souls up there walking. Not that you usually see many people anyway, unless camping at somewhere like Junction Pools,