Monument Beach ride from Bendalong

The land around Conjola National Park has been home for the Budawang and Yuin people for about 6000 years. There are many Aboriginal sites in the area, including middens, campsites and rock shelters. At Fishermans Rock, the midden contains fragments of mussels and mud oysters that were once meals for the local Aboriginal people. You'll also see some axe-grinding grooves in the sandstone.

With open forests and scrubland, there are plenty of places to find Conjola's wildlife. Keep your eyes peeled for eastern grey kangaroos, wombats, echidnas, brushtail possums and gliders, along with a huge range of cockatoos and parrots, black swans and herons. As well as providing the perfect place for swimming, canoeing, fishing and water sports, the three lakes adjacent to the park - Conjola, Berringer and Swan - are a significant habitat for many birds, such as little terns, the endangered hooded plover and pied oystercatchers.

You can easily explore Conjola from the comfort of your car. Some of the tracks and trails that take you through forests, past the lakes and to the ocean are even accessible for 2WD vehicles in dry weather. One of the most popular drives is from Cudmirrah to Monument Beach picnic ground, following Goonawarra Drive, Blackbutt Road and Cedar Road. Just take care as you're driving along, because you'll be sharing the trails with cyclists, walkers and horse-riders as well as wildlife, which also cross the tracks mainly in the early morning and late afternoon.

In 1870, 12 men lost their lives when the clipper Walter Hood struck rocks off the coast between Bendalong and Berrara. A monument, erected in 1927, marks the burial site of the drowned captain and crew. it is a short walk from the Monument Beach picnic area.