Gibraltar-Washpool World Heritage walk review
Granite Torrs, rise out of the forest and grasslands of Gibraltar Range National Park
The other weekend I walked the Gibraltar-Washpool World Heritage walk and I thought it might be lovely to write a quick review.
Len’s rating: ⚝⚝⚝ (three out of five stars)
My three star rating for this walk has to be considered in context. This is a relatively simple walk designed for people without too much overnight walking experience and loops around mostly on fire trails and finishes where it starts. Which makes this a much easier not having to worry about car shuffles. Campsites are often at vehicle accessible car camping sites. So your wilderness experience is limited only to the time while you are walking. Though calling it wilderness is far from the truth when you are walking on a fire trail, and the area has been extensively logged. The exception is when you walk into the Washpool Trail.
If you are an experienced bushwalker who’s ideal for a good walk is getting away from everything human in the South West of Tasmania for a week, this is a very different experience.
Pidcocks Trail, Gibraltar Ranges National Park. Photograph copyright © Len Metcalf 2026
Distance 45 kms
Length 3 or 4 days
Grade 4
Bushwalking experience recommended. Tracks may be long, rough and very steep. Directional signage may be limited. (Please note that the Australian bushwalking track grading system is incredibly limited and rather inadequate)
I would say this track is suitable for people reasonably new to overnight bushwalking, who have the fitness to walk and carry a suitable weight pack for the required kms.
Location
Gibraltar Range National Park and Washpool National Park, which is basically halfway between Grafton and Glen Innes on the northern NSW between the coast and the country NSW. It is on the Gwydir Highway
Coachwoods in The Willowie Scrub in Washpool World Heritage Rainforest. Circa 1999 Photograph copyright © Len Metcalf 2000
Environmental Significance
The Willowie Scrub in Washpool Rainforest is the largest undisturbed rainforest in NSW (approx. 3,000 hectares). It is the largest intact Coachwood forest in the entire world. Ancient Brushbox trees, some estimated to be over 1,200 years old. You can see this on the Washpool Track from Bellbird or Coombadjha Campsites.
Environmental Background
This walk is of special significance to us environmentalists, as it is the first time that we won a fight with science and questioned policy. The ability of forestry to log and maintain conservation at the same time was challenged and eventually rebuked. Before Washpool, the Forestry Commission followed a "multiple use" policy—meaning they believed they could log a forest and conserve it at the same time. The Washpool battle forced the NSW Government to admit this was impossible for old-growth rainforest. It established the principle that some areas are too precious to touch.
Premier Neville Wran’s "Rainforest Decision" in October 1982 was the first time an Australian state government overrode its own powerful logging industry and Forestry Commission to create a massive National Park system based on conservation value. Something we need to return to today no doubt.
The protest succeeded because activists didn't just protest; they provided more detailed data. Conservationists (led by the Total Environment Centre and the Big Scrub Environment Centre) mapped the Willowie Scrub more accurately than the government had. They proved it was a "refugium"—a place where species survived for millions of years—which made logging it look like scientific vandalism. It paved the way for the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage listing in 1986. Without the 1982 win, there wouldn't have been enough intact forest left to qualify for World Heritage status.
The battle didn't end in 1983. A 7,000-hectare section known as ‘North Washpool’ had been left out of the original decision to appease the timber industry. In 1989, the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) formed and launched a blockade to stop a new logging road.
King Ferns, Pidcocks Trail, Gibraltar Ranges National Park. Photograph copyright © Len Metcalf 2026
Bushwalking Notes
This is a beautiful walk. The variety of environments it traverses is incredible. From rainforest to grassy plains and granite buttresses and boulders. It is unfortunate that most of it snakes its way on fire trails and that most of the campsites are vehicle accessible car camping sites. The other big let down was having to walk for three kms on a tarred road. I love my wilderness experience and this certainly isn’t it. The track is open to cyclists as well, so that is important to know in advance.
We chose to do the walk counter clockwise. This meant we had an easy first day and had to walk down the tarred road into Washpool. This played havoc on one of our parties knees. Unfortunately we didn’t make the best use of time on the first day as we skipped walking the Washpool walk, which I would highly recommend. I have done it twice before and it is absolutely stunning, if you love rainforest and leeches. I think if I was to do the walk again, I’d do it the recommended way of going clockwise, and putting the biggest day in first. Officially you start at Mulligans Hut Campground. A rather luxurious and beautiful car camping site.
An old remnant from a forest that now is all regrowth. You can easily see the size of the trees that once grew there before logging. Photograph copyright © Len Metcalf 2026
We did the walk in the end of April, and we had no trouble finding water, which we filtered. It rained a little was we walked, and cooled off at night. But was basically the perfect temperature to do the walk.
The walk is incredibly well signposted. With maps at every major junction, we only consulted the map occasionally to see how we were going. But really they were only there for emergencies.
This is one of those walks where you need to do the side trips in my opinion. The trip to Anvil Rock is well worth the effort, as is Dandahra Craigs and definitely the Washpool walk. We skipped both of these and again I am disappointed we didn’t do them. It has been many years since I have been up there.
The day between Mulligans Hut and Boundary Falls, is mostly walking on tracks that are incredibly well maintained and even mown. Which always surprises me.
A note to National Parks if you ever read this. We want to camp away from car camping campsites, we don’t want to walk along roads, and definitely not tarred ones. Please stop hobling together some logging / fire trails and construct interesting and beautiful walks. It would be so lovely if you ran a foot track down from Granite Lookout to the Tall Timbers Trail, walking along a road is hardly bushwalking.
Photograph and text copyright © Len Metcalf 2026
