New South Wales (Northern NSW)
Barrington Tops National Park
World Heritage listed Barrington Tops lies 38 km west of Gloucester. It has mainly dirt roads. You will be stunned by the high, rugged river valleys heavily forested with species from Antarctic beech to subtropical rainforest.

There’s equally attractive scenery inland, and the drive from Forster via Nabiac, Krambach and Gloucester to the Barrington Tops National Park ($7.50 entry per car), for example, makes an enjoyable day-trip. On the way up to the country town of Gloucester it’s gently hilly farming country; from here, unsealed roads lead to various scenic spots in the national park – the Barrington Road towards Scone, or the Gloucester Tops road to the park’s southwestern section. 

You can also approach it via the Hunter Valley from Maitland via Dungog. The closest you’ll get to the park via public transport is on the train from Sydney or Newcastle to Dungog or Gloucester; the Barrington Guest House does free pick-ups from Dungog.
The Barrington Tops themselves are two high, cliff-ringed plateaus, Barrington and Gloucester, that rise steeply from the surrounding valleys. The World Heritage-listed national park was declared in 1969 and protects the catchment areas of six streams that feed the Manning and the Hunter rivers. The changes in altitude are so great – the highest points are Mount Barrington (1555m) and Polblue Mountain (1577m) – that within a few minutes you can pass from areas of subtropical rainforest to warm and cool temperate rainforest, and then to high, windswept plateaus covered with snow gums, meadows and subalpine bog. Up on the plateau, snow is common from the end of April to early October, while heavy fogs and rains are possible at virtually any time.

The Great Lakes Visitors Centre in Forster can help with specific routes or organized 4WD tours into the national park; one company running such tours is Manning Valley 4WD Tours (tel 02/6553 5977; $75 including morning and afternoon tea and barbecue lunch; pick-ups from Forster, Taree or Sydney). There are plenty of picnic grounds and scenic lookouts in the park, plus several campsites, some of which are accessible only by 4WD. 

The main camping area, reached by car, is in the Gloucester River area, with barbecues, toilet and water (no showers; $5 per site). You don’t need to book, but for more information contact the NPWS in Raymond Terrace (tel 02/4987 3108). A good camping alternative, with hot showers, is Riverwood Downs, just outside the park in the Monkerai Valley, 30km south of Gloucester (tel 02/4994 7112; $19–30). 

The closest accommodation to the park is the expensive Barrington Guest House in Salisbury, about 40km from Dungog, which charges between $80 and $90 per person (shared bathroom or en suite), including meals and activities from bushwalking to horse-riding. A cheaper alternative is Barringtons Country Retreat on Chichester Road, 23km north of Dungog, which has a pool, spa and horse-riding on offer (meals or self-catering available).