Summary

A spectacular walk through native forest and coastal heathland taking in the beautiful Murrays Beach, with impressive views of the Tasman Sea, Jervis Bay and Bowen Island. Awesome.

Description

Spectacular. That's the word that comes to mind the most in reflecting on this beautiful 2.5 hour loop walk in Booderee National Park.

This is a popular walk and it is not hard to see why. Beginning and ending at the picture perfect Murrays Beach, the walk follows a native forest trail before moving out into more open coastal heathland.

The forest is beautiful, with Scribbly Gums a feature. The heathland has a variety of interesting plants and the low vegetation allows great views in all directions.

The story of Booderee’s plants, animals, culture and history is told through the 14 signs you’ll discover along the way.

The national park is home to plenty of plants and wildlife including threatened species - find out more at the conservation page of the park website. ‘Munyunga waraga dhugan’ means ‘white-bellied sea eagle’s home camp’ in the Dhurga language of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal people. We were lucky enough to see the eagles soaring above us at Governor's Head - keep a lookout for them.

Notes:
1. The location of the track between the car park and Murrays Beach, as marked on the map above, is approximate only (but easy to find when you are there).
2. Sorry, dogs are not allowed in the national park.
3. Public toilets are available in the car park, but not on the walk itself.

4733 Views

Points of Interest

1. Murrays Beach

White sand, turquoise water, bush backdrop. Beautiful.

2. Native forest walk

Walking up the hill away from the beach, you walk through the native forest.

3. Forest beauty

This is a very nice forest to walk through. The main species are scribbly gum and banksia with the occasional warratah.

4. Scribbly gum

Scribbly gum is the dominant tree species in this forest.

5. Heathland

As the walk crosses the peninsula the vegetation changes from forest to heathland. This area is the highest part of the walk, with views of Jervis Bay, down over the peninsula and out to sea.

6. Coastal walk

The walk follows the coast near the clifftops, with continual views out to sea.

7. Ocean Cave Lookout

At this point the track is right on the clifftop, allowing views to the sea and caves below.

8. Heathland plants

Walking through the heathland, it's easy just to take in the coastal views, but there are also unusual plants to see if you look closely.

9. Views to Bowen Island

As you head down the hill to Governor Head Lookout, you start to get views down to Bowen Island.

10. Governor Head Lookout

This lookout offers coastal views of more than 180 degrees, including out to Bowen Island, which is home to a colony of Fairy Penguins. Watch for sea eagles flying above here.

11. Views through the trees to the beach

Walking through the forest here, looking down through the trees to the beach, is quite delightful.

12. Gorgeous

Did we mention the beautiful views through the trees to the beach?

13. Back to the beach

Once is not enough.

14. Beautiful gums

While the beach is the main attraction here, it's worth looking back into the forest as well including beautiful gums like this.

Features

Picnic spot

Public toilets

Nature trail