Parking
Park in the marked Booderee Botanic Gardens car park beside the central paths and visitor facilities; the Forest Walk route starts at this hub.
Overview
About Forest Walk
Why go
- Fern-rich garden paths and a view of Lake McKenzie
- Shelter, BBQs, tables and toilets near the walking hub
Heads up
- A short 30-minute circuit
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Booderee alerts
- CautionH5 avian influenza detectedH5 avian influenza (bird flu) has been detected in a greater crested tern in Booderee National Park; the park remains open, but visitors must avoid contact with sick or dead wildlife.Official details
- ClosureIluka Beach access closedIluka Beach day-use area and beach-access staircase are closed while repair works are carried out, leaving Iluka Beach inaccessible via the beach track.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Booderee Tour Guide
Your drive to Forest Walk, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Booderee National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Booderee Botanic Gardens0:00 / 0:31
“Up ahead are Booderee Botanic Gardens, where native coastal plants make a quieter break from the beaches. Before it was a garden, a piano manufacturer tried growing timber here for piano frames.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Booderee Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Power Station Plan at Murrays
- Cave Beach: Surf and Shoreline Caves
- Who Scribbled on the Gums?
- Listen for the Cone Crackers
- 23 audio storiesacross Booderee’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grey Kangaroo, Echidna, Red-necked Wallaby, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 14 trails, 33 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Forest Walk
A gentle garden loopForest Walk is an easy 1.3 km loop through Booderee Botanic Gardens, taking about 30 minutes.
Forest Walk is an easy 1.3 km loop through Booderee Botanic Gardens, taking about 30 minutes. It’s a quick introduction to fern-rich areas and the Lake McKenzie landscape. Start at the marked Gardens car park and follow the blue Forest Walk line; other colored walks share the same grounds.
Lake McKenzieThe lake is perched above the surrounding landscape and gives this short walk its main view.
The lake is perched above the surrounding landscape and gives this short walk its main view. Eastern long-necked turtles and seasonal birdlife use the lake, though sightings are never guaranteed; lake water also irrigates the gardens. For a photo, include the pale shore with the wooded far bank so the lake’s shape reads in the frame.
The old farmThe route passes the former Bherwerre farm site.
The route passes the former Bherwerre farm site. In the early 1900s it belonged to Australian piano manufacturer Octavius Beale, who tried to grow timber for piano frames. That failed, and the property shifted to grazing and dairy. Green Hut stands at the old farm-building site, and a plaque at Rock Lawn marks the Beale homestead.
A community-owned gardenThe gardens began in 1951 as a frost-free annex of the Australian National Botanic Gardens.
The gardens began in 1951 as a frost-free annex of the Australian National Botanic Gardens. The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community took ownership of the gardens and park in 1995 and now manages them jointly with Parks Australia. Paths pass cultivated rainforest, heath and forest areas, with interpretation about plant uses for food and medicine.
Before or after the walkScribbly Gum Lawn has a shelter, electric barbecues and picnic tables.
Scribbly Gum Lawn has a shelter, electric barbecues and picnic tables. Toilets and drinking-water bubblers sit near the central garden facilities. Only the supplied bubblers provide drinking water; other water in the gardens is non-potable. Pets aren’t permitted in Booderee.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Booderee
202 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
16 sightingsRed-necked WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
116 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
93 sightingsKookaburraMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
22 sightingsYellow-tailed Black CockatooMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Booderee. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
