The Nature Reserves of the Tweed Volcano
Natural History
Natural History Index
World Heritage
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Rainforest © David Palmer
When visiting our national parks and reserves please minimise your environmental impact by following these guidelines. If you use a tour operator or guide service, ask them if they observe the Ecotourism Operators Code of Practice.
BOATHARBOUR NATURE RESERVE
Around the turn of the 20th century, Boatharbour served as a base camp and loading facility for timber getters working in the Big Scrub. Today a paved walking track and veiwing platform provide a window into the past, when steamships collected and towed logs out of the rainforest lined waterways.
Just six kilometres from Lismore on the Bangalow Road, Boatharbour is well placed to provide for day visitors. Picnic facilities, easy access and a pleasant relaxing environment are sure to make your visit both worthwhile and educational.
BROKEN HEAD NATURE RESERVE
There are few places in New South Wales where the rainforest truly meets the sea. Broken Head is one such place, protecting one of the most outstanding scenic and natural areas of coastline in NSW.
Walking tracks offer sweeping vistas and provide access to secluded beaches with their backdrop of windsheared rainforest. Tracks leave from along side the Broken Head Caravan Park and at other localities along Seven Mile Beach Road. Camping is permitted only in the council managed caravan park. To get there, follow the signs for the caravan park along the Coast Road.
BRUNSWICK HEADS NATURE RESERVE
Brunswick Heads offers the magical combination of beach, estuary and littoral rainforest. There is little to beat it on a hot summers day or if you are looking to escape the hectic pace of life in a busy coastal town.
Located just off the Pacific Highway on the northern side of the Brunswick river, it is the ideal location for a picnic, swimming, or simply cooling your heels and dangling a line.
CUDGEN NATURE RESERVE
Open seven days a week, 8am to 4pm, this delightful reserve comprises 54 hectares of mixed coastal vegetation. Set
On the Tweed Coast Road, just west of Cabarita (Bogangar), this reserve comprises Cudgen Lake, Round Mountain and areas north and south of Clothiers Creek Road.
Here is found a dramatic mix of vegetation types including littoral and subtropical rainforest, dry and wet sclerophyll forests, swamp forest, heathlands, woodlands, grasslands and mangroves.
At 464 hectares including the whole of Cudgen Lake, the reserve offers picnicking, bushwalking and nature study in a truly unique range of habitats.
Contact NSW NPWS on ph. (02) 6670 8600 for more information.
ILUKA NATURE RESERVE
This World Heritage area preserves that largest
stand of Littoral Rainforest in New
South Wales. Located just north of the coastal village of Iluka, this
unique area is ideal for a day visit. Picnic facilities are provided at
Likua Bluff where an informative display ensures that your visit will
be an educational one. A 2.5 kilometre rainforest walk starts from here,
meandering through the forest up to the village of Iluka.
MOORE PARK NATURE RESERVE
Just off the Summerland Way near Old Grevillia, 26 kilometres west of Kyogle, this tiny nature reserve is the most important example of Black Bean Rainforest in New South Wales and is all that remains of an area once known as Boyd's Scrub. A great place for a swim and family picnic, there is a shelter shed, picnic tables and toilets provided for your convenience.
TUCKI TUCKI NATURE RESERVE
In 1958 local residents worried about disappearing koala habitat initiated tree plantings which now form the core of Tucki Tucki. Extensive additional plantings over the years have now more than doubled the area available. A small colony of this much loved Australian marsupial now lives in the reserve, and while we can't guarantee that you will see one during your visit, looking is half the fun.
A short graded walking track and pleasant picnic facilities are provided within the reserve, which is located along the road from Lismore to Woodburn. Take the time while your are there to visit the Aboriginal Bora Ring a kilometre back down the road towards Wyrallah.
TYAGARAH NATURE RESERVE
Eight kilometres of unspoilt beach and an impressive backdrop of coastal heath await visitors to Tyagarah Nature reserve.
Access is ten kilometres north of Byron Bay off the Pacific Highway to picnic facilities at the end of Grays Lane. It' s just the place for a quiet walk along the beach and perhaps a spot of fishing.
WILSON NATURE RESERVE
One of the eleven major remnants of the "Big Scrub", Wilson Nature Reserve covers an area of 27 hectares. The walking track starts from either Wyrallah Road or the reservoir on City View Drive out of Lismore. This reserve contains the only significant patch of Dry Rainforest left from the "Big Scrub".
VICTORIA PARK NATURE RESERVE.
It is hard to imagine that this tiny remnant of rainforest is nearly all that is left of an area once known as the " Big Scrub", beleived to have once covered an area of some 73,000 hectares. A specially constructed boardwalk and other walking tracks allow you to travel back in time beneath a canopy of towering trees.
Located approximately seven kilometres south of Alstonville on Wardell Road, Victoria Park is well placed for day visits. Picnic facilities include wheelchair access, shelter shed, water, fireplaces, tables and toilets. An informative display and track signs cater for the enquiring mind.
By 1900 this the largest area of tall subtropical rainforest was all but totally destroyed by the timbergetters of the time. While only 17.5Ha in area, Victoria Park contains 8Ha of undisturbed rainforest. 152 different tree species have been identified in this area with many examples of strangler figs, white booyong, yellow-wood, bumpy ash, red bean and Moreton Bay figs. The Macadamia Nut tree (Macadamia tetraphylla) which is Australia's only native food plant that is commercially grown can be found in the park.
