Red Gum Walking Trail
In the Wyrrabalong National Park on the NSW Central Coast is the Red Gum Trail. With parking on the Western (North Bound) side of Wilfred Barrett Drive between The Entrance and Norah Head this trail starts off with a large sign and a picnic table. This walking trail is approximately 3.4km in length, well maintained and has mostly a firm sand consistency. Head down a few small steps and onto the tracks to start this walk. I tend to follow the route in an Anti Clockwise direction following the signage for the Red Gum Trail.
​
With an abundance of Banksia, ferns and stunning Red Gum trees this is a really stunning walk. As you follow the trail up and over its first hill you come across a sign directing you to follow either the Red Gum Trail or the Wetlands trail which heads back out to Evans Road Noraville. This is another location that you can park if you wish to tackle this walk.
​
Be sure to take your time on this walk and really take in the
beauty and have a read of the signage as you make your way through the park. Following on you are faced with a few reasonably steep hills some of which have rubber matting laid to assist in traction for walkers and maintenance vehicles.
​
Be sure to take your time on this walk and really take in the beauty and have a read of the signage as you make your way through the park. Following on you are faced with a few reasonably steep hills some of which have rubber matting laid to assist in traction for walkers and maintenance vehicles.
​
About one third of the way into the walk you will find a platform with a park bench for you to sit and take a rest after the hills. Take in the views out over Noraville and Tuggerah Lakes from this location. Moving on down South along the trail you will find many more ferns, banksias and of course the red gums this area is named after. There is another Easterly facing platform and bench for you to relax on and again take in the views over Tuggerah Lakes out towards Tuggerawong and Wyong. Keep an eye and ear open for the stunning Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo along this walk as well, they tend to feast on the Banksia seeds and make for a really beautiful experience when you can get up pretty close to them.
​
At around Two Thirds of the way in you officially finish the Red Gum Trail and have the option to either continue on and take on the Lilly Pilly Loop Trail (Information here) or follow the Burrawang Walking Track back to the start of the walk and your vehicle. The Burrawang Walking Track narrows and can be a little trickier with tree roots and over growth but overall is still a very easy walk. This section is another really beautiful part of the walk however and should not be taken for granted. The flowers, ferns etc through this section are well worth the walk.