Boonoo Boonoo National park base camp

Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th Feb BC Boonoo Boonoo Nat Pk

Contacts: Elena S (0420 793 136) or Justin P (0498 161 426)

Only 27km from Tenterfield, Boonoo Boonoo (pronounced Bunna Bunoo) National Park has a stunning waterfall, secluded swimming holes, hiking tracks, camping areas, accommodation and picnic spots.

From the lookout is an uninterrupted view of the Boonoo Boonoo River cascading over the granite cliff edge to become a spectacular waterfall that plunges 210m into the gorge below. Nearby, you’ll find walking tracks and shady places to picnic. Secluded rock pools along the river, lined by wildflower-filled bushland, are the perfect way to cool off on a hot day.

If you’d like to come along please book a campsite at the following website: https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/cypress-pine-campground . Cypress Pine campground is situated beside Boonoo Boonoo River, so bring your caravan, motorhome or tent for a weekend of swimming, walking and fishing.

Cost: $49.20 for 2 people for 2 nights.

There is also a park fee of $8 per car/per day which you can pay once down there.

Lynne Martin has kindly offered to do a morning bird watching walk.

And Dean Trezise has kindly agreed to lead one or more of the following walks -

Mt Prentice - M OT T4 F4

We’ll drive a few kilometres down the road, then find a safe spot to cross the Boonoo Boonoo River. Once across the river we’ll head off-track for several kilometres up towards the summit of Mt Prentice (1078m), admire the expansive views and explore some caves. We’ll find a different route back to the river and back to the carpark. All up around 10km / 450m elevation gain.

Base of Boonoo Boonoo Falls - S OT T7 F4

We’ll drive to the Boonoo Boonoo Falls Lookout, about 10 minutes down the road past the campground. There used to be an old track to the bottom of Boonoo Boonoo Falls but it’s no longer maintained and has been damaged by rains and rock falls. We’ll try and find a way down anyway. Expect lots of scrambling and some exposure - only come on this walk if you’re comfortable with this! I’ll be taking a rope just in case and only doing this walk if the rock is dry. Once at the base of the falls we can have a bit of an explore and look around before climbing back up. All up only around 2km and a couple of hours, but we can spend some time swimming at the top of the falls too.

Bald Rock sunrise - S DW T2 F1

Our campground at Cypress Pine is only a 20 minute drive from Bald Rock. For anyone who’s keen, I can wake you up early on one of the mornings (depending on weather). We’ll aim to depart the campground at 4am QLD time, start the walk up Bald Rock at 4:30am in time for sunrise by 5:30am. It’s an easy uphill walk on a graded track. We should be back at the campground by no later than 7:30am.

South Bald Rock Caves - L OT T6 F4

If we want to explore further near Bald Rock, we can go visit the South Bald Rock cave system. From the Bald Rock carpark, we head along 8km of easy fire trails, past Little Bald Rock, until we get to the base of South Bald Rock. We then use a rope to enter the spectacular cave system and make our way up, over and through it. A fully charged head torch is mandatory as we’ll be in pitch black darkness for over an hour as we go through the cave. There are lots of claustrophobic tight squeezes, so only take a small backpack and bring a fully charged head torch. Gloves are also useful too as the granite is quite sharp and there’s some scrambling and climbing to do. It’ll take us a good couple of hours to get to the exit. We’ll then climb up to the summit of South Bald Rock, make our way down the back face of it, and walk around 8km back along the fire trail to the carpark.

Undercliffe Falls - S OT T3 F3

This is a spectacular waterfall 45 minutes before you get to Boonoo Boonoo, on the drive from the Gold Coast (if you drive via Mount Lindesay Road). It’s definitely worth stopping at on your way to the camp or on the way home. It’s signposted from the main road. There is a rough but steep footpad that leads to the base of the falls, which takes less than an hour. I’ll visit this waterfall either on my drive to the camp or on the drive home - happy for others to join me.

We’ll get a consensus of what walks people would like to do once we’re there - we’re keeping it flexible!

There are other walks people can do if they’d rather do something different.

Please bring something to share for ‘happy hour’ on Friday & Saturday night.

Sounds like a fabulous camp!

Thanks everyone.

Regards

Anna