Overview
Carey’s Peak is located just 2 hours from Newcastle & 3.5 hours from Sydney in Barrington Tops National Park. What makes Barrington Tops so special is that the rainforests here are ancient Gondwana Rainforests. These rainforests are recognized as a World Heritage Area and offer a look into Earth’s evolutionary history with many unique and rare species found within.
These beautiful and ancient rainforests stretch from below Newcastle in NSW to the south-east of Queensland and contain the most substantial remaining pockets of Antarctic Beech cool temperate rainforests in the world.
Carey's Peak - Key info
Distance 20.6km return from Lagoon Pinch picnic area – Carey’s Peak, 32km with optional Aeroplane Hill loop
Difficulty Grade 4, very steep uphills until Wombat Creek Campgound (8-9km)
Elevation gain 800m to Wombat Creek campground, aproximately 1000m to Carey’s Peak
Time 1 night 2 days only doing Carey’s Peak, 2 nights 3 days with additional Aeroplane Hill Loop
1st time hiker
We set off from Lagoon Pinch Campground around midday along the Corker trail with my mate Codi riding shotgun on his 1st overnight hike. Speaking from personal experience doing things for the first time there is an element of uncertainty and all sorts of questions come up such as ‘am I going to enjoy this, will I be safe, do I have the right gear’, etc.
I was a nice introduction to hiking for Codi with 8-9km of leg-burning up-hills en-route the Corker trail to Wombat Creek campsite. The trail was aptly named that’s for sure: both hard on the legs and beautiful full of fern-trees and all sorts of cool fallen & mossy trees. At times it was hard to appreciate the beauty of it but with regular stops we began to immerse ourselves in the trip and forget about the outside world.
Hiking is often associated with being hard and at times dull, this is something Codi mentioned several times that he was struggling with and whether he could enjoy it. In our modern day world consisting of hyper stimulated environments and ease of access to technology it’s no wonder that people such as Codi initially struggle to connect with the experience in front of them and disconnect from the outside. The benefits of being out in nature though are many and the attentional restoration theory (ART) suggests that when in nature the mind is allowed to rest and recover by removing unwanted distractions, which frees up the mind from unwanted thoughts and allows for a contemplative state of mind (Yap, Dillion & Chew, 2022).
History of the area
For our first night of camping we established ourselves next to Carey’s hut which was built way back in 1934. The hut was originally constructed with the idea of turning Barrington Tops into a skiing destination and the ‘Katoomba of the North’. However, this idea fell flat on its face due to the poor design with its south facing entrance and likely due to its climate. Whilst it does receive snow for a short period during the colder months. Due to its elevation and how high up it sits geographically (2 hours north-west of Newcastle) it seems like quite the grandiose plan that was destined to fail.
The peak & lookout
Carey’s peak at 1544m is one of the highest points in the whole of Barrington Tops N.P.
If you were like us and set up camp next to the hut its then its only another 200m to the top (Carey’s Peak). Carey’s peak is a bit of a funny one, its dense and hard to get the best view of the surrounding mountain ranges but with a bit of bushbashing around to the right we perched up on the clearest section we could find, cooked up my camp favouite couscous, played some dice games and watched a cracking sunset.
Things to consider
- If you have the appropriate gear visit Barrington Tops in winter on a scheduled snowfall
- Campgrounds are required to be booked prior to heading out. There are no camping fees but a $6 booking fee will apply
- Bring hiking poles for the long and sometimes steep descent
- Camp beside Carey’s Hut instead of Wombat Creek Campground for a more authentic bush experience
- There are several boot cleaning stations along the trail, please clean your boots to prevent the spread of Phytophtphora
- Camp at Junction Pools on your 2nd night, this area is very popular with 4wd’s and for good reason – the camp is situated on grassy embankments alongside the free-flowing river with firepits spread out alongside
- Purchase some fire starters if you are planning to have a fire as the wood can be quite damp
- Water can be filled at Junction Pools and Wombat Creek campgrounds; bring water purification just in case
References
Yap, T,. Dillion, D., & Chew, P. (2022). Nature Imagery and Mystery on Attention Restoration.
