Tooloom walking track

Tooloom National Park

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Overview

Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.

Accessibility
Medium
Distance
1km loop
Time suggested
15 - 45min
Grade
Grade 2
What to
bring
Hat, sunscreen, drinking water
Please note
  • Remember to take your binoculars if you want to birdwatch.
  • There is no/limited mobile reception in this park.

Tooloom walking track takes you on a short, easy walk a little deeper into the lush rainforest of Tooloom Scrub, which is part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. Over 200 species of birds have been recorded in the park and many of these inhabit the rainforest.

To either side of this trail are large rainforest trees and vines stretching from the leaf-littered forest floor to the high canopy above. Twisted roots of strangler figs can be seen among walking stick palms, which fruit bright red in summer.

Bring along your binoculars and take your time birdwatching. You may be lucky enough to spot an endangered Coxen’s fig-parrot, which is one of the smallest parrots in Australia at only 15-16cm long. It’s mainly bright yellow-green with red and blue markings on its relatively large head. Their call is quick and high-pitched and easy to miss, so keep your ears as well as your eyes peeled.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info

Map


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Current alerts in this area

There are no current alerts in this area.

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/walking-tracks/tooloom-walking-track/local-alerts

Park info

See more visitor info

Visitor info

All the practical information you need to know about Tooloom walking track.

Track grading

Features of this track

Distance

1km loop

Time

15 - 45min

Quality of markings

Clearly sign posted

Experience required

No experience required

Gradient

Flat

Steps

No steps

Quality of path

Formed track: The walk is a 1m-wide natural hard-packed ground track. It can be muddy and slippery after heavy rain.

Other barriers

Pinch points: There may be points where the track narrows due to rocks, tree roots and plants.

Getting there and parking

On entering Tooloom National Park, Tooloom walking track is signposted from Tooloom picnic area.

Parking

Parking is available on Tooloom Road, a short walk from Tooloom walking track.

Best times to visit

There are lots of great things waiting for you in Tooloom National Park. Here are some of the highlights.

Autumn

Listen out for calls of pied currawongs signifying the return of colder weather as you find a sunny spot to enjoy a bite to eat or stroll through the rainforest.

Spring

Brilliant new leaf shoots adorn red cedar trees on the upper slopes of the rainforest. In the early morning or following prolonged rain, carpet pythons can be seen basking in the warming spring sun along the entrance road.

Winter

Photograph or simply gaze at the spectacular view when, on a clear winter's day, the farming valley is usually filled with morning mist.

Weather, temperature and rainfall

Summer temperature

Average

16°C and 28°C

Highest recorded

39°C

Winter temperature

Average

3.5°C and 18°C

Lowest recorded

7.3°C

Rainfall

Wettest month

February

Driest month

August

The area’s highest recorded rainfall in one day

210mm

Facilities

There are accessible non-flush toilets and a picnic table at Tooloom picnic area where this walk begins.

Maps and downloads

Safety messages

Bushwalking safety

If you're keen to head out on a longer walk or a backpack camp, always be prepared. Read these bushwalking safety tips before you set off on a walking adventure in national parks.

If you’re bushwalking in this park, it’s a good idea to bring a topographic map and compass, or a GPS.

Mobile safety

Dial Triple Zero (000) in an emergency. Download the Emergency Plus app before you visit, it helps emergency services locate you using your smartphone's GPS. Please note there is limited mobile phone reception in this park and you’ll need mobile reception to call Triple Zero (000).

Accessibility

Disability access level - medium

Tooloom walking track is a 1m-wide hard-packed ground walk that has gentle hills and no steps.

There are some parts of the walk where people with reduced mobility may need assistance:

  • The track narrows at points due to rocks, tree roots and plants
  • The track surface can be muddy and slippery after heavy rain

There are accessible non-flush toilets at Tooloom picnic area, where this walk begins.

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.

Smoking

NSW national parks are no smoking areas.

Learn more

Tooloom walking track is in Tooloom National Park. Here are just some of the reasons why this park is special:

A good scrub

Looking up into the forest, Tooloom National Park. Photo: David Young

The rainforests of Tooloom Scrub are part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which used to be known as Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves. Tooloom is one of the few areas on Earth in which plants and animals have remained relatively unchanged from their ancestors.

  • Tooloom lookout It’s a short, easy walk to magnificent scenic views across World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and out to Great Dividing Range from Tooloom lookout.
  • Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.

A thriving ecosystem

Tooloom National Park. Photo: David Young

Feast your eyes on Tooloom’s magnificent forest communities. Subtropical rainforest, with vines stretching from the soft forest floor to the towering green canopy, are dominated by black booyong. Bird’s nest and staghorn ferns decorate broad trunks, live and dead. Hoop pines break through the canopy of dry rainforest on the upper western slopes. In the wet sclerophyll forests old tallowwood and Sydney blue gums grow. Other forest types include forest red gum, New England blackbutt, grey gum and grey iron bark.

  • Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.

Full of life

Mosses,  Tooloom National Park. Photo: David Young

Although there are as many as 13 species of snake, 10 species of macropod (things that hop) and three other species of mammals in Tooloom, they’ve got nothing on the birds. So far, 214 species of bird have been recorded, including paradise riflebirds, wompoo fuit-doves, regent bowerbirds, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, scarlet honeyeaters, endangered black-breasted button quail, and Coxen’s fig-parrot. Endangered animals inhabiting Tooloom are Fleay’s barred frog, and black-striped wallaby.

  • Tooloom lookout It’s a short, easy walk to magnificent scenic views across World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and out to Great Dividing Range from Tooloom lookout.
  • Tooloom walking track Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching and picnicking during your hike.

Traditional land of the Githabul people

The mountains of Tooloom National Park. Photo: David Young

Tooloom National Park is an Aboriginal place and the traditional land of the Githabul people. For thousands of years, these forests provided shelter, food, medicine and tools. Certain features in and around Tooloom remain deeply significant, such as Bandahngan Aboriginal Area (Tooloom Falls), which is 13km east of the park. The Aboriginal word for ‘Tooloom’ is ‘Dooloomi’, which means ‘head lice’ and relates to the story of these falls.

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