Careys Peak Walking Track

Hard

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A 14km return grade-4 NPWS track along the escarpment from Mount Barrington to Careys Peak lookout, passing Antarctic beech remnants and a historic hut.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

15.1 km

Est. time

4 hr 18 min

Elevation gain

353 m

Route type

Out & back

✦ Plan route

Steepest stretch: +44m over ~300m (around the 14.0km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Barrington Tops National Park, Barrington Tops, near Scone, NSW. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Broad-Leaved PepperbushDocumented on this trail

Tasmannia purpurascens

Endangered — NSW: Endangered▾

Endangered — NSW: Endangered

Tasmannia purpurascens, commonly known as the broad-leaved pepperbush, is a shrub in the primitive family Winteraceae and is only found growing in the Barrington Tops and Ben Halls Gap regions of New South Wales. It is locally abundant in a restricted subalpine habitat with high rainfall, often growing in the ecotone in association with Antarctic beech.

How to spot it

Tasmannia purpurascens usually grows to a height of 1–3 m (3–10 ft) with a woody stem, purplish new growth and branchlets. The leaves are egg-shaped with a rounded tip, mostly 8–18 cm (3–7 in) long and 30–50 mm (1–2 in) wide. They are glabrous with a purplish base, lack a distinct petiole and have a raised midrib on the lower surface. Creamy-white flowers about 25 mm (1 in) wide and arranged in umbels appear in November. The flowers are either male or female but occur on the same plant. There ar

Family Winteraceae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Tasmannia purpurascens

Coachwood

Ceratopetalum apetalum

Defines Washpool's Gondwana rainforest canopy▾

Defines Washpool's Gondwana rainforest canopy

Washpool National Park protects the world's largest stand of coachwood trees, a defining feature of the coachwood-sassafras rainforest community that characterises NSW's Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage reserves.

How to spot it

Smooth, greyish, fragrant bark marked with distinctive horizontal scars encircling the trunk; grows to around 25m (exceptional specimens to 40m) with pale pink to pinkish-brown timber that carries a caramel-like scent when cut. Common canopy associate of sassafras in cool, moist rainforest gullies.

Family Cunoniaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Ceratopetalum apetalum; NSW National Parks — Washpool National Park

Photo: Poyt448 (Peter Woodard) (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons

Black Sassafras

Atherosperma moschatum

Gondwanan rainforest relict▾

Gondwanan rainforest relict

An ancient rainforest tree of the Gondwanan flora, black sassafras produces nutmeg-scented leaves and cream, purple-streaked flowers between July and October. Wikipedia confirms it occurs at Barrington Tops and in the upper Blue Mountains, two of its few NSW outposts.

How to spot it

A shrub-to-conical tree 2-30m tall with densely hairy young branchlets and lower leaf surfaces. Lance-shaped to elliptic leaves 30-95mm long release a strong nutmeg scent when crushed - the fastest way to confirm an ID in the field.

Family Atherospermataceae · Source: Wikipedia: Atherosperma moschatum

Native Cherry (Cherry Ballart)

Exocarpos cupressiformis

Hemiparasitic rainforest-margin tree▾

Hemiparasitic rainforest-margin tree

A hemiparasitic tree that draws some of its water and nutrients from the roots of nearby plants while still photosynthesising through its own drooping, cypress-like green stems. Named among the flora of Barrington Tops National Park. Its edible 'cherry' is not a true fruit but a swollen stalk carrying a single hard nut on the outside.

How to spot it

A pyramidal shrub or small tree 3-8m tall with reduced, scale-like leaves and green, drooping photosynthetic stems that resemble a small conifer. Look for the odd fruit structure: a small nut sitting atop a swollen, berry-like red or yellow stalk.

Family Santalaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Barrington Tops National Park; Wikipedia: Exocarpos cupressiformis

Riberry (Lilli Pilli)

Syzygium luehmannii

Bushfood rainforest tree▾

Bushfood rainforest tree

A rainforest tree bearing tart, cranberry-flavoured 'riberries' that have been commercially harvested as a native bushfood since the early 1980s. It grows on volcanic and deep sandy soils in rainforest from the NSW mid-north coast to tropical Queensland, and is named among the flora of Barrington Tops National Park.

How to spot it

A medium tree to 30m with small, glossy, lance-shaped leaves that flush pink-red when young and turn shiny green with age. Look for pear-shaped red berries around 13mm long ripening December to February, and reddish-brown, papery-scaled bark.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Barrington Tops National Park; Wikipedia: Syzygium luehmannii

Native Raspberry

Rubus parvifolius

Rainforest-margin bramble▾

Rainforest-margin bramble

A scrambling, prickly bramble native to eastern Australia and named among the understorey plants of Barrington Tops National Park. It produces small red aggregate berries that are edible and were traditionally eaten by Aboriginal people.

How to spot it

A curved-prickle bramble to about 2m with pinnate leaves of three to five toothed leaflets. Small red-to-pink flowers cluster at branch tips, developing into soft red raspberry-like fruit around 1cm across.

Family Rosaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Barrington Tops National Park; Wikipedia: Rubus parvifolius

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Davies' Tree Frog

Litoria daviesae

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable▾

Vulnerable — AUS: Vulnerable, NSW: Vulnerable

Davies' tree frog is a species of frog in the family Pelodryadidae. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and rivers. It is currently threatened by habitat loss.

How to spot it

Davies' tree frog is a medium-size species which grows to a maximum snout-to-vent length of 53 millimetres (2.1 in) for males and 63 millimetres (2.5 in) for females. The colour of the upper surface is somewhat variable, being mainly golden brown with darker brown patches but sometimes additionally having green patches. There is a narrow brown stripe running from the nostrils through the eye and back towards the groin, broadening towards the posterior and then becoming intermittent. Below the ey

Family Pelodryadidae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Davies' Tree Frog

Platypus

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

IUCN Near Threatened▾

IUCN Near Threatened

The platypus is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia and the sole living member of its family, combining a duck-like bill, dense waterproof fur, and (in males) a venomous ankle spur. It hunts underwater using electroreception, detecting the tiny electrical fields of prey rather than relying on sight.

How to spot it

Best spotted at dawn or dusk on still freshwater streams, rivers, or lakes — look for a low, rippling wake and a dark, streamlined body about 40-50 cm long with a rubbery grey-brown bill and a flattened beaver-like tail. They dive briefly and repeatedly, surfacing to chew food at the surface; genuinely wild sightings require patience and quiet.

Family Ornithorhynchidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Short-beaked echidna

Tachyglossus aculeatus

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's most widespread native mammal▾

IUCN Least Concern — Australia's most widespread native mammal

The short-beaked echidna is an egg-laying monotreme covered in cream-coloured spines and fur, with a long toothless snout and a fast, sticky tongue for catching ants and termites. It is found across almost every Australian habitat, from alpine areas to arid interior, making it one of the country's most widespread native mammals.

How to spot it

Usually seen ambling slowly across a trail or frozen mid-dig at the base of a log — a spiny, dome-shaped animal 30-45 cm long with a slender snout. If disturbed it will curl or dig straight down into the soil rather than run, leaving just a dome of spines visible. Most active by day in cooler months, more nocturnal in warmer weather.

Family Tachyglossidae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Charles J. Sharp (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Spotted-tailed quoll

Dasyurus maculatus

IUCN Near Threatened; EPBC-listed Vulnerable (Endangered in Queensland)▾

IUCN Near Threatened; EPBC-listed Vulnerable (Endangered in Queensland)

The spotted-tailed quoll (also called tiger quoll) is the world's second-largest living carnivorous marsupial after the Tasmanian devil, a nocturnal hunter of eastern Australia's wetter forests. Unlike other quoll species its white spots continue onto the tail, and its bite is the second-most powerful relative to body size of any living mammal carnivore.

How to spot it

Larger and more elongated than other quolls, with reddish-brown fur covered in white spots that run all the way down the tail — the tail-spots are the single best field mark to separate it from the eastern quoll. Found in wetter forest and rainforest, generally above 600 m in higher-rainfall country; almost entirely nocturnal and solitary.

Family Dasyuridae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: pimelea (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Greater glider

Petauroides volans

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted 2022)▾

EPBC-listed Endangered (uplisted 2022)

Australia's largest gliding marsupial, the (southern) greater glider was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered under the EPBC Act in July 2022 after severe habitat loss from logging and the 2019-20 bushfires. It is a nocturnal, solitary specialist that feeds almost exclusively on eucalypt leaves and buds.

How to spot it

Look up into tall, hollow-bearing eucalypts at night with a spotlight - the eyeshine glows a bright orange-red. Body 35-46cm plus a long, non-prehensile bushy tail up to 60cm; fur ranges from a dark almost-black morph to pale mottled grey, always with a lighter belly. Unlike sugar or yellow-bellied gliders it is silent and solitary, gliding in long slow swoops between tall trees rather than bounding through the canopy.

Family Pseudocheiridae · Source: Wikipedia (Southern greater glider; Greater glider)

Photo: Samrhorton (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Yellow-bellied glider

Petaurus australis

IUCN Vulnerable▾

IUCN Vulnerable

A large, highly vocal gliding possum of eastern Australian eucalypt forests, able to glide up to 150 metres between trees. It lives in small family groups and is best known for its far-carrying, gurgling shriek that can be heard up to 500m away at night.

How to spot it

Grey-brown above with an off-white to orange-yellow belly, large pointed ears, body about 30cm plus a bushy tail up to 48cm. Listen at dusk for its distinctive rolling shriek/gurgle call - often the first sign it's around before you spot it gliding between widely spaced tall eucalypts. Look for characteristic V-shaped incision marks on trunks where it has sap-fed.

Family Petauridae · Source: Wikipedia; IUCN Red List

Photo: Greg Schechter (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Macropus giganteus

IUCN Least Concern - Australia's most-seen kangaroo▾

IUCN Least Concern - Australia's most-seen kangaroo

Australia's most commonly encountered kangaroo, with an estimated population above 11 million, ranging across the eastern third of the continent in open grassland, woodland and forest.

How to spot it

Look for a soft grey to brownish-grey coat with a lighter belly, standing over a metre tall in males with long, thick tails. Mainly grazing at dawn, dusk and night in small mobs on grassy verges, clearings and paddocks adjoining bushland; less wary of people than other roo species.

Family Macropodidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Powerful owl

Ninox strenua

Vulnerable (NSW & Vic); IUCN Least Concern▾

Vulnerable (NSW & Vic); IUCN Least Concern

The powerful owl is Australia's largest owl, an apex forest predator of south-eastern Australia that feeds mostly on tree-dwelling possums and gliders. Though secure globally, it's listed as vulnerable in New South Wales and Victoria because it depends on large, hollow-bearing old-growth trees for nesting, which logging and land clearing keep removing.

How to spot it

A big owl, 45-65cm long with a wingspan over a metre, dark grey-brown above with bold white V-shaped barring below and a hawk-like long-tailed silhouette in flight. Listen at dusk for the male's slow, far-carrying double hoot ('whoo-hooo'); by day it roosts quietly in tall forest trees, sometimes with the remains of a possum cached on a branch below.

Family Strigidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Lace monitor

Varanus varius

IUCN Least Concern — common eastern forest goanna▾

IUCN Least Concern — common eastern forest goanna

The lace monitor is one of Australia's largest and most familiar goannas, a highly arboreal predator and scavenger found throughout the forests of eastern Australia from Cape York to south-eastern South Australia.

How to spot it

A big goanna (up to 2m, occasionally more) — most commonly dark grey-black with cream spots and a banded tail, though some individuals ('Bell's phase') show broad yellow-and-black bands instead. Confident and inquisitive around campsites and picnic areas, where it will readily investigate food; often seen climbing tree trunks head-first when approached, active mainly between September and May.

Family Varanidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Bidgee (CC BY-SA 3.0 Australia) via Wikimedia Commons