Sherwood Forest drive
Sherwood Nature Reserve
Overview
Enjoy driving through diverse landscapes on Sherwood Forest Drive. This scenic trail offers picturesque places to picnic, lookouts and spectacular views along the way.
- Where
- Sherwood Nature Reserve in North Coast
- Distance
- 50km one-way
- Time suggested
- 2hrs
- What to
bring - Hat, sunscreen, drinking water
- Please note
- Remember to take your binoculars if you want to go birdwatching.
- Check the weather before you set out as the road to Sherwood Nature Reserve can become boggy when it rains.
- There is limited mobile reception in this park.
Sherwood Forest drive offers visitors the opportunity to experience the spectacular scenery and biodiversity of Sherwood Nature Reserve.
Start your adventure at Woolgoolga Creek picnic area with a barbecue or leisurely picnic. If you have time, Falls walking track is an easy walk through the rainforest with great views of the waterfalls and excellent birdwatching.
This driving route takes you from subtropical rainforest, through old-growth forest ecosystems and over the elevated sandstone plateau. Various spots such as Waihou lookout provide great views over Orara Valley, with sandstone cliffs providing a stunning backdrop.
Keep your eyes out for local wildlife along the way. Old-growth forests provide refuge for species such as microbats, owls, possums and gliders. And, while admiring the views from the sandstone escarpment, you might spot brush-tailed rock wallabies or one of the many native reptiles basking in the sun.
Map
Map legend
Local alerts
For the latest updates on fires, closures and other alerts in this area, see https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/driving-routes/sherwood-forest-drive/local-alerts
General enquiries
- National Parks Contact Centre
- 7am to 7pm daily
- 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) for the cost of a local call within Australia excluding mobiles
- parks.info@environment.nsw.gov.au
Park info
- in Sherwood Nature Reserve in the North Coast region
Sherwood Nature Reserve is always open but may have to close at times due to poor weather, fire danger or damage to trail network.
Visitor info
All the practical information you need to know about Sherwood Forest drive.
Getting there and parking
Get driving directions
Sherwood Forest drive starts in the south-eastern precinct of Sherwood Nature Reserve. To get there from Woolgoolga:
- Drive west along Woolgoolga Creek Road and follow the signs to Woolgoolga Creek picnic area.
- Follow Gentle Annie Road along the northern boundary of the reserve until it merges with Sherwood Road.
- Drive on Sherwood Road to the intersection with Waihou Road.
- Turn left onto Waihou Road.
- Head west on Waihou Road, then follow Waihou Road which continues to the finish at Nana Glen.
- Either return to Woolgoolga via Bucca Road, or drive north through Glenreagh to Sherwood Creek Road.
Parking
Parking is available at various sites along the drive.
Best times to visit
There are lots of great things waiting for you at Sherwood Nature Reserve. Here are some of the highlights.
Autumn
See magnificent quandong trees as their fruits turn blue and fallen leaves carpet the rainforest floor with red.
Spring
A fantastic time to see rainforest birds while they're nesting and wildflowers in the heathland.
Summer
Enjoy the tranquillity in the rainforest and some cool respite from the summer heat.
Winter
Bask in the winter sun at Woolgoolga Creek picnic area and enjoy a sheltered walk in the rainforest.
Weather, temperature and rainfall
Summer temperature
Average
16°C and 28°C
Highest recorded
28.3°C
Winter temperature
Average
4°C and 20°C
Lowest recorded
4.2°C
Rainfall
Wettest month
March
Driest month
August
The area’s highest recorded rainfall in one day
953.1mm
Maps and downloads
Prohibited
Pets
Pets and domestic animals (other than certified assistance animals) are not permitted. Find out which regional parks allow dog walking and see the pets in parks policy for more information.
If you're travelling through a national park or reserve on a public road you can have pets inside your vehicle. However, you must keep them inside your vehicle while driving through national parks or reserves. You must also comply with any conditions in the park’s plan of management, and you cannot stop to visit the park or use park facilities (unless for safety reasons, or to use publicly accessible toilets).
Smoking
NSW national parks are no smoking areas.
Learn more
Sherwood Forest drive is in Sherwood Nature Reserve. Here are just some of the reasons why this park is special:
Aboriginal culture
The landforms, creatures and plants of Sherwood continue to have cultural significance for the Gumbaynggir People. Plants found in the rainforest such as figs, rosella leaves, tamarinds, ginger fruit and wombat berries are important for local cultural knowledge. There are also many special Aboriginal sites in the reserve, like Woolgoolga Creek, which is important for Gumbaynggir Women. This gives visitors a fascinating insight into Aboriginal culture and heritage.
Bird watching paradise
Birdwatchers will find an incredible diversity of birdlife at Sherwood. Wander through the rainforest on a spring or summer morning and you’ll see and hear up to 30 different species. It’s home to white-eared monarch and other common species like yellow-throated scrub wren, rufous fantail, little shrike thrush, noisy pita and log runner. It’s also an important place for threatened migratory pigeons such as the rose-crowned fruit dove and wompoo fruit dove.
- Falls walking track Falls walking track in Sherwood Nature Reserve is an easy walk through the rainforest, offering spectacular waterfall views of Woolgoolga Creek Falls and fantastic birdwatching.
- Woolgoolga Creek picnic area Woolgoolga Creek picnic area is the ideal destination for a family daytrip. There are picturesque places to picnic, barbecues, excellent birdwatching and a nearby walking track.
Changing landscapes
Early settlers began logging here in the 1800s, and this continued right up to 1961, when it was prohibited. In 1907, they built a tramline to take timber to the mill in Woolgoolga. In the early 1900s, banana plantations were established and from the 1960s, parts of the rainforest were cleared for plantations of flooded gums and bunya pines, some of which you can still see today. Along Falls walking track, you may also see remnants of a pipeline, built in 1966 to take water from Woolgoolga Creek Falls to Woolgoolga township.
Precious plant life
Sherwood Nature Reserve protects one of the few subtropical lowland floodplain rainforests remaining on the NSW North Coast, as well as dry and warm temperate rainforest and old-growth forest. A highlight is the magnificent stand of blue quandong around Woolgoolga Creek, with its whitish trunk covered in lichen and large buttresses. You might also spot the giant climbing orchid, the only known climbing orchid in Australia.
- Falls walking track Falls walking track in Sherwood Nature Reserve is an easy walk through the rainforest, offering spectacular waterfall views of Woolgoolga Creek Falls and fantastic birdwatching.
- Sherwood Forest drive Enjoy driving through diverse landscapes on Sherwood Forest Drive. This scenic trail offers picturesque places to picnic, lookouts and spectacular views along the way.