I recently completed my first marked thru hike — and longest hike to date — walking solo for a total 50km along the incredible Gibraltar-Washpool World Heritage Walk in Northern NSW, Australia.
This was my longest hike to date and was completed solo in February 2022.
Along the way I carried one of my 35mm film cameras a shot three rolls of film over the length of the hike.
Below I’ll share some of my images and thoughts from this amazing adventure.
Hike Highlights
This hike was a true rugged Australian highlands walk with some highlights and a short video of the trip below.
- 50km loop track with lots of addon trails
- World Heritage Gondwana rainforest
- Oasis wetlands and rocky creeks and platypus
- Huge granite boulders and tors
- Hidden waterfalls and endangered crayfish
- Tall sclerophyll eucalypt and temperate rainforest
Gibraltar Range & Washpool National Parks
Located within the Northern Tablelands above the Clarence Valley, this 50km loop can be hiked over three to five days, with additional tracks possible to add up to a total of 100km and 5 days total if you wish.
There are remnants of mining, logging and grazing from the 1880s at various parts of the walk for some colonial history of the area.
Gibraltar Range and Washpool National Parks also lie within the traditional lands of the Bundjalung, Gumbaingirr and Ngarrabul people.
Day 1
Mulligans Hut to Boundary Falls
Distance: 20km
I started my hike from Mulligans Hut, a popular day use and campground with lots of parking.
I walked counter-clockwise so I could get into some bigger days early and have a smaller day at the end for the climb out of the gully.
I walked in late summer and we had had significant fires through the parks recently so there was a lot of thick regrowth and fire damage across the landscape.
Day 2
Boundary Falls to Coombadjha Campground
Distance: 20km
On the second day there is a halfway camp at grassy Creek that can be used to split your trip into an extra night.
I opted to walk through and really enjoyed this section of the trail through some amazing granite country, creeks and waterfalls at both ends.
Day 3
Coombadjha Campground to Mulligans Hut
Distance: 10km
The final day I started early so didn’t get a lot of time to photograph in the dark understory.
The hike out of Coombadjha back to Mulligans was mostly a road walk back to the highway before winding back through dry forest.
This was a really easy finish to the trip and I was done by mid day and free to explore the nearby lookouts and other trails.
