Dorrigo National Park is magic. With ancient rainforest that feels like you’ve strolled into Jurassic Park, majestic waterfalls, wild swimming spots galore, and a special feel to it that just gets under your skin. The sights and the sounds of the forest will stay with you long after you leave the park and it quickly became one of our favourite places in NSW.
There are a wide range of walks from relatively easy paved strolls, to more challenging trails that feel like you’ve entered the wilds. If you’re lucky enough to visit Dorrigo after some decent rain, the waterfalls will be thundering and the forest is at its most green and lively. Walking on a misty day, when the low hanging cloud drifted into the forest turned out to be one of the greatest days we’ve had in Australia.
Having hiked every trail in the park, here are all of Dorrigo National Park walks ranked.
1. Wonga Walk - for a mysterious forest of wonder
Distance: 6.1km loop
Elevation: 210m
Difficulty: Moderate
This is not just one of my favourite walks in NSW, but in all of Australia, and we’ve spent 7 years hiking as many trails here as we can! No words will ever describe how it felt to walk through this forest on a misty day.
It honestly took three times longer than any other similar walk would because I had to stop every few minutes just to take it all in.
There are no dull sections of track, every step was a delight and the backdrop is the constant sounds of the abundant birdlife. The catbirds give it an eerie feel, and it felt like stepping into the pages of a novel.
The forest feels ancient (it dates back to the time of Gondwana) and I kept expecting a cassowary to come running round the corner before realising i’m not in the Daintree! In truth, I loved it just as much as the Daintree itself.
As well as mystical plants, trees and colourful fungi, you’ll also see two incredible waterfalls including the much loved Crystal Shower Falls.
If you only have time for one walk in Dorrigo, make it this one.
It has a few hills but no difficult terrain as the path is fully paved - making it both weatherproof and less leechy - despite walking on a wet day we didn’t see any leeches - one of only two trails in Dorrigo where this was the case.
Here’s our full Wonga Walk trail guide.
2. Rosewood Creek Circuit - for stunning turquoise swimming holes
Distance: 9km loop
Elevation: 412m
Difficulty: Moderate
The Rosewood Creek Circuit is the trail for you if you love wild swimming. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a trail with so many glorious swimming holes, especially if you add on the side track to Red Cedar Falls.
The water holes are turquoise, something I wasn’t expecting and wholly took my breath away.
You’ll walk on a narrow path through beautiful rainforest, complete with hanging vines and lots of ferns, as you slowly make your way round the circuit.
As well as stopping at various swimming holes, you’ll also visit the spectacular Coachwood Falls which is a lovely spot for a picnic or yet another dip if the water isn’t running too powerfully.
The path is in generally good condition throughout the main trail, but the side tracks down to the swimming holes are quite slippery. You’ll want shoes with good grip and if you’re like me, walking poles to get down.
A lot of the track is flat but there are a few hills, most notably the one up from Red Cedar Falls if you choose to add on this side trail.
You can read our full Rosewood Creek Circuit guide for more details, including all the unmarked swimming spots.
3. Crystal Shower Falls Walk - for a magical night time experience
Distance: 3.2km return
Elevation: 130m
Difficulty: Easy - moderate
The Crystal Shower Falls Track is the quickest route to the falls if you don’t want to walk the whole Wonga Track.
It’s paved and easy on the way in, but you’ll have a hill to climb on the way out. Still it’s not difficult, and it’s very beautiful.
It’s also the route to take if you’re looking for an adventure and want to head back into the rainforest at night to visit the secret glow worm colony.
Before heading to Dorrigo we’d spent quite a few months scouting out various glow worm colonies in the Blue Mountains and when we saw Crystal Shower Falls we had a suspicion we might find some more there.
Venturing into the rainforest at night was a lot of fun in its own right, with totally different sights and sounds to the day time, and add to that when we arrived back at the falls, we found the hundreds of twinkling blue lights we’d been hoping to see.
Standing under a glow worm colony will never lose its magic, it’s like a glimmering night sky. We also got it all to ourselves because it’s not a spot that had been documented online, even now we can’t imagine you’ll have to share it with anyone.
Exactly where to see the glow worms, plus another spot we found along the way is in this post.
4. Red Cedar Falls Walk - for the tallest falls in the park
Distance: 6.8km return
Elevation: 210m elevation
Difficulty: Moderate
Whilst this is the quickest route to the falls, if you have a little more time I would recommend adding Red Cedar Falls onto the Rosewood Creek Circuit. If not, then this walk is still good, just not quite as good!
You’ll spend much of the route to the falls descending through pretty forest. Once you reach the junction to the falls itself the path gets a little more steep, but it’s still a well maintained trail. Despite hearing it would be terribly slippery I didn’t find it too bad at all - and I am not great on slippery trails!
As you get closer, the falls get louder and louder and as you can hear them for a good kilometre before you see them, the anticipation rises. You won’t be disappointed when you get there, they are absolutely majestic, and so much bigger than I realised! You actually can’t get the whole falls in one photo!
You can swim in the pool at the base if the waterfall isn’t running too powerfully. The whole scene is awe inspiring. You can read more details in our post on Red Cedar Falls.
5. Casuarina Falls Circuit - for another beautiful waterfall
Distance: 4.7km return
Elevation: 150m
Difficulty: Moderate
Although no walks we did on this list could be described as busy (except perhaps Crystal Shower Falls in the middle of the day) this circuit is an even quieter option.
Casuarina Falls would be a star attraction in many other parks, but when surrounded by Dorrigo’s grander falls, it flies under the radar.
What that means is you’ll find a very pretty waterfall, surrounded by lots of dry rocks which are perfect to sit and have a picnic on, with likely no one else around. If the falls are not thundering down, you can swim in the pool at the base.
Before you reach Casuarina Falls you’ll see a turquoise waterfall from above, admire it then, because we never found a way to get down there!
After leaving the falls, when you reach the fork, take the left trail which runs down to a creek and a turquoise swimming hole. It’s not as big as the one on the Rosewood Creek Circuit, but it makes for a nice plunge pool.
The forest throughout the trail is lovely, with copious ferns and hanging vines. As with many Dorrigo walks the path is narrow but well maintained. You’ll be mainly descending on the way to the falls and ascending back to the car park . It gives you a bit of a workout without being overly steep.
6. Blackbutt Trail - for a character building experience
Distance: 6.5km one way
Elevation: 275m
Difficulty: Moderate - hard
There are always trails we like more than others, but there are rarely ones that we don’t recommend walking at all. But when it comes to the Blackbutt Trail it was a clear bottom of the pile for us, in fact I’d go as far as to say the track beyond Casuarina Falls is pretty much a nightmare!
Yes the forest is pretty, but there are so many huge blockages along the trail, that until it’s fixed up I wouldn’t even go there. There are often spiky things that grab your hair or cause lots of little paper cut type things all over any bare skin. And don’t get me started on the ferocity of the tiger leeches - and we say this having being leeched many times, in many parks. This trail is rife with them.
The first part of the walk is similar to the Casuarina Falls Circuit, and you come to the same falls. It’s after that that the trail begins to deteriorate and gets worse until you reach the second set of falls. If you’re keen to see Callicoma Falls (the second set along the track) I’d recommend driving to the other end of the track and hiking in from there as the path is clear - be warned it’s still super leechy though!
Essential information about Dorrigo National Park walks
The best time to visit
In our opinion the best time to visit Dorrigo National Park is after some decent rain. Not only will the waterfalls be incredible, but the forest feels full of life. The wettest time tends to be summer.
If you visit after extreme rain, as we did, the falls will be at their very best but you can’t swim in them as they are way too powerful, so that’s just something to bear in mind if you have your heart set on that (there are other swimming holes without waterfalls that you can swim in year round). Expect ice cold water but you get used to it!
Leeches!
Dorrigo is known for leeches, as many rainforests are, especially after heavy rain. But don’t let that put you off. I hate them a lot, especially being a Brit where we just don’t have anything like that, but if you spot them quickly it is generally easy to flick them straight off.
We were shocked and delighted we didn’t see a single one on the Wonga Walk and we hiked it during rain - I think the paved path helps there. If you are very leech averse my recommendation would be not to sit on any of those inviting logs near the water holes, the only time I got leeched on the Rosewood Creek Circuit was when I sat down.
The only trail which was pretty unbearable was the Blackbutt, I know I sound like I am picking on it, but personally I got 10 on me (and way more on my boots), and every time you try to remove the little suckers more clamber aboard. They also latch with a power I haven’t experienced before, carry something with you to get them off like salt or OFF.
Getting to Dorrigo National Park
There are two parts to the park. The Rainforest Centre and the Never Never picnic area. The Never Never picnic area is 10km from the Rainforest Centre along an unsealed road - but it’s in generally good condition and a 4WD is not required.
Dorrigo is 550km from Sydney and will take roughly 6 hours to get to. It’s 30 minutes from Bellingen and an hour and a half from Armidale.
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