You will see huge Blackbutt trees – the biggest in NSW; make your way to long forgotten lookouts; see hang gliders launch themselves over the valley; drive along the top of the spectacular Lansdowne Escarpment; pass by massive volcanic plugs rising 560 metres; plunge into dense rainforest; and then head for the coast where you will see beautiful cliff framed beaches that rival any along the whole eastern coast line.
The Route
160 km of diverse scenery and topography, rising from sea level to a height of 600 metres. The trail starts where Middle Brother Rd joins the Pacific Hwy. You then go straight up to the top of Middle Brother through the Middle Brother National Park and then head for the Coorabakh NP through Hannam Vale and Watui where the spectacular Lansdowne Escarpment awaits you. A short tour of the Lansdowne State Forest is next and then across to the coast through Harrington, Crowdy Head and finally to Camden Haven.
Road/track condition and preparation
All of the roads and tracks are suitable for 2 wheel drive vehicles – even in heavy rain! There are some steep climbs in places, but the roads are firm with very good traction.
All the usual supplies for a couple of days outing should be packed and make sure that you also pack a weather proof coat and a warm jumper as the weather can suddenly change around here. Good footwear is advisable and watch where you walk as some of the trail is through national parks and we do not want to make any unnecessary tracks.
Duration
It is possible to complete this series in about 15 hours, however to see all that is on offer and to fully appreciate the scenery, we would recommend that it be enjoyed over a period of 2 days. There is a camping spot at the Coopernook Forest Park (at S 31 47.300 E 152 36.560) if you are so equipped; alternatively there is motel accommodation in Coopernook and two caravan parks in Harrington.
The Caches
All the caches are Traditionals with a Final Mystery. The clues for the Final Mystery are included in caches scattered around the trail. The location of the final mystery is quite a special spot and just a short drive from the end of the trail – it is well worth the effort to finish the series by visiting this location.
There is a variety of cache containers ranging from 30ml plastic tubes to an ammo can for the final mystery cache. There are no small micro or nano caches in this series. The caches that are placed in national parks are all the same – 200 ml Sistema containers painted green/black with the Geocaching stash note visible through the top of the lid. They have a pencil and log, but no swaps in accordance with the NPWS guidelines. Other caches are hidden in a wide variety of styles, so keep your minds open. While the caches will need to be looked for, they are designed to be found easily and placed in obvious spots whenever they could be. Clues in some instances have been included to ensure that cachers do not spend too long in the search.
Travelling through Crowdy Bay National Park
A day fee of $7.00 is normally payable when travelling through the Crowdy Bay National Park. However we have made an arrangement with the Rangers that no fee will be charged if cachers are simply travelling through the park and just stopping to retrieve a cache and take a few pictures.
If you decide to stop for a longer period – for instance to have a coffee, or take a lunch break, then the daily fee will need to be paid.
CITO
We would like to encourage cachers to remove at least a couple pieces of rubbish from the NP’s, especially the Crowdy Bay NP. This would be a great service to the community as well as demonstrating to NPWS that cachers are responsible and willing to help keep our parks in good condition. To assist in this there is a roll of plastic rubbish bags in the first cache container. Please take one bag each and place a few items of rubbish that you may find on your journey through the NP’s and dispose of it responsibly.
Logging your find online
A repeated comment which is “cut and pasted” is fine for all your finds except for the last one. We would like your comments of your experience to be in noted in the last cache please. Any DNF's, please describe where you looked.
Finally
We hope that you have fun and enjoy this series, which over time may grow to include other areas of incredible beauty.
Mid North Coast Mob.