Attention, all you NSW dwellers who like to bush walk. A brand new, 39-kilometre hiking track is currently being built in northern NSW, in the Tweed Byron hinterland, and it looks like it’s shaping up to be something pretty spectacular.
Construction is presently underway to create a sustainable, low-impact, multi-day walk linking Mount Jerusalem National Park and Minyon Falls in the lush Northern Rivers region, with the new trail planned to wind through some of the Earth’s last remaining slices of ancient Gondwana rainforest and cross the emerald ridges of the Border Ranges escarpment. You can expect stunning vistas, breathtaking biological diversity, and a generally gorgeous time.
The walk has been named the ‘Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk’, following consultation with the Widjabul Wia-bal Native Title holders and Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council. Gidjuum Gulganyi means ‘Old People’s Track’, with the walking trail crossing the ancient traditional lands of the Bundjalung Nation.
Slated to open to us all in mid-2024, the walking trail is currently being built in a way that is reportedly as ‘low impact’ as possible. It is being done through upgrading existing walking trails and old logging paths, with the aim being to avoid disturbance to the bush as little as possible.
Once completed, the track will have three remote, walk-in camps with basic facilities, shelters and toilets, and will also have a number of new smaller, day walks for all those who aren’t into the idea of walking and camping for multiple days on end.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service are hoping that this walk will create more desire for people across the state and Australia to protect our incredible natural environment, and call for increasing support for safeguarding the many threatened species who call this slice of the NSW rainforest home.
So, dig those hiking boots out of the back of your attic. This one looks pretty good.