The 75km drive from historic Glen Innes to Dandahra Crags walking track in Gibralta Range National Park was worth every last minute of the hour-long drive. If you appreciate a bit of wild beauty, then you are in for a treat. It was like a scene from Lord of the Rings. Nobody would have been surprised if Gandalf himself had appeared.
What we loved
Being in the great outdoors is one of those restorative things: The peace, the quiet, the sound of the birds and the crunch of your own footsteps. We hardly saw another soul. Being spring, the wild flowers were out in profusion, the birds were tweeting, the insects were buzzing. A mild day and perfect for walking in the sun. It’s a pretty easy walk too.
What we did
Early start
We set off after breakfast in Glen Innes, intending to beat he worst heat of the day. We stocked up on picnic supplies at the local supermarket the night before because once you get all the way out there, there’s nowhere to buy a meal or snack. The roads in are well signposted. The Dandahra Crags walking track is a pretty flat 6km (about three hours) stroll that skirts the enormous and strangely beautiful Surveyors Swamp. Great swathes of densely growing grasses and sedges waved in the breeze and the place was alive with the sound of frogs (at least it was when we were there and there’d been a lot of rain in the lead up). Montane Swamps of this kind are quite rare and the unique community of plants and animals they support are endangered. If you arrive in spring you’ll find a spectacular wildflower display.
Amazing landscape
The highlight of this walk for us was the landscape itself. All around the track rose dramatic granite rock formations, including outcrops and balancing tors. The beautiful landforms are a legacy of ancient volcanic activity, followed by faulting and uplift, and a weathering process (known as spheroidal or onion skin) which produces the startling rounded shapes and lines of the crags. Read more about the geology.
Climbing the crags
There is a well marked track which will take you to the top of one of the crags. Look for the arrows – they’ll keep you on the track. It is a bit of a climb – but honestly – the views are stunning. About three quarters of the way up we looked back where we’d come – across the swamp and into the distance – and just looked at each other and said “wow”. We continued on to the top where huge blocks of ancient weathered granite formed a shady and sheltered place to rest. Xanthorea and wildflowers were growing here and there. A cool breeze wafted through. It’s hard to put the cathedral like splendour of this place into words. In every direction the views were incredible. We sat and ate our picnic and quietly marvelled at the beauty. Thank goodness for national parks.
Raspberry lookout
On the way back into Town we took a quick detour to Raspberry Lookout – about a kilometre off the Gwydir Highway. Named after a spur used by Aboriginals and stockmen in their descent to Mann River, from this lookout you can see the entire Bindery-Mann Wilderness Area. You can see the challenging slopes and ridges once traversed by early graziers and miners. On the partly cloudy day of our visit, the sun threw a moving patchwork of cloud shadows over the mountain range. There’s picnic tables around there too if you want to plan that into your day.
More pictures
Where we ate
We were only in Glen Innes for a day and two nights. On night one we dined at the local Thai restaurant – The Thai House. A delicious meal, quick service and friendly hosts. Before we headed off for our walk we fuelled up with breakfast at The Coffee Incident – a quiet, sunny little cafe in the main street. On another evening we enjoyed a great meal at the Great Central Hotel in Grey Street. The food was good, the beer was cold, and there was a crackling fire. The staff were helpful and the service was great.
