Where

Towarri National Park in Country NSW

Accessibility

No wheelchair access

Distance

1.6km return

Time suggested

45min - 1hr

Grade

Grade 4

What to
bring

Drinking water, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, snacks

Please note

• The track starts next to the toilet block at Washpools campground. Visitors staying at the campground can begin the walk directly from here.
• Day visitors can park at Washpools picnic area, head down the stairs next to the viewing platform, then walk 500m downstream along Middle Brook to reach Washpools campground where Range View track starts.
• Drinking water is not available in this area so it’s a good idea to bring your own.
• There’s limited mobile reception in this park.

Adventurous bushwalkers will enjoy the challenging hike up Range View track. Just 25km from Scone, it’s a fantastic introduction to the diverse landscapes of Towarri National Park.

The track begins at Washpools campground and winds uphill through ironbark and grey gum woodland before following the base of a sandstone outcrop. 

Discover caves embedded with ancient volcanic rock and marvel at the towering sandstone walls before making your way to Range View lookout at the top of the outcrop. From this superb vantage point, you’ll be rewarded with expansive views of the Liverpool Range, including the range’s highest peaks Mount Tingaroo, Bald Hill and Thompsons Peak.

Return the way you came and see if you can spot lace monitors basking in the sun or flocks of grey-crowned babblers gliding through the trees. If you visit at dusk, you may be lucky enough spy an echidna or wombat searching for food.  

Spring is the best time to walk the track, when the acacias and wildflowers are in bloom.

After your walk, cool off with a well-deserved dip at nearby Washpools waterhole, an easy walk from Washpools picnic area and viewing platform.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Visitor info

Getting there and parking

Facilities

Maps and downloads

Learn more

Fabulous flowers and creatures of flight

Towarri is inhabited by a range of birds and animals, many with a particularly distinctive call, appearance or ability that appears in their name. The powerful owl is as strong as it sounds, hunting and feeding on medium-sized mammals and marsupials including gliders, possums and wallabies. The glossy-black cockatoo is as self-explanatory as the red-tailed and yellow-tailed black cockatoos. The greater glider spreads itself out like a sheet of paper to change trees. The Liverpool Range sees the blending of many plant species. Towarri National Park is home to about 650 species. From the cassuarina forests along the creeklines to the majestic snow gum on the ridgeline, that are capped with snow on occasion. The miltant grass trees stand on the hills amongst the serene poa grasslands. The gully lines off the falls of sandstone play host to dry rainforest pockets providing habitat to many fauna species. The unique area is a floristic wonderland with many species at the edge of the range.

Snow gums and spinifex

Three distinct bioregions meet in Towarri: the Sydney Basin, the Brigalow Belt South and North Coast. This means that the soil type, fertility and depth differ throughout the park. Throw in a variation in rainfall, elevation and geological features and the result is a mosaic of plant communities. Snow gums decorate the skyline above a snowgrass understorey on the high plateau areas of Mount Tinagroo and Bald Hill.

The first people

The Wonnarua People (also spelt Wanaruah) were the first inhabitants of the Upper Hunter Valley. Their name means ‘people of the hills and plains’, describing their traditional lands from Merriwa in the west, Barrington Tops to the east, the sandstone escarpment at Wollombi to the south and the Liverpool Range mountains to the north. Towarri means ‘warrior’ in the Wonnarua language, whose people fought hard for their land after European settlement. There is an array of artefacts including stone flakes, scarred trees and hearths in the park and surrounds, demonstrating long cultural use and occupational of the area by the Traditional Custodians.