The Eagles Nest Track is one of the most beautiful walks in New England National Park. If you only have time for one walk in the area this lets you experience some of the best scenery whilst only taking a little over an hour.
With outstanding views, incredibly atmospheric Antarctic Beech trees which are dripping in moss, and the huge basalt cliff known as Weeping Rock, it really does have it all.
Here’s what to expect on the trail.
The Eagles Nest Walking Track
The stats
Distance: 2.2km
Elevation: 160m
Difficulty: Moderate
A note on difficulty
When you see the national parks sign for this walk you’ll notice that it is marked as hard with an estimated time of 2 hours for a 2.2km walk. We assumed this meant it was going to be incredibly steep, but in reality it’s not at all.
We walked the trail in a little over an hour and that included lots of time stopping to take photos and admire the views.
Starting the trail at Point Lookout
The walk can be done in either direction, we chose to walk via Point Lookout first.
The minute you hit the trail you will see a thick layer of moss covering the fence as you walk along the paved path, from this moment I knew it was going to be an atmospheric walk.
After 150m you’ll come to an un-named lookout which we think has even better views than Point Lookout itself, as it is less obscured by trees.
You’ll see over the rainforest to layer upon layer of mountains which have a blue tinge and reminded me a little of the Blue Mountains.
It’s an absolutely beautiful view and very similar to Point Lookout, which is one of the most photographed sunrise spots in all of NSW. We visited a second time for sunset, which was spectacular and well worth doing if you can’t face a really early alarm call for sunrise.
Just 50m beyond this lookout you’ll find Point Lookout which has a few more trees in the foreground but is still breathtaking and offers a look at some of the mountains to the left that you can’t see from the first viewpoint.
Heading into the mossy forest
Just a couple of minutes later you’ll see the turn off on the right for the Eagles Nest Track which leaves the paved path behind and begins immediately descending into the forest.
The first part of the descent is all on staircases and there is often a metal rail if there are any slippery bits - which wasn’t too much of an issue even when we hiked after a lot of rain.
The forest is gorgeous with huge ferns and thick moss trailing from the trees. It’s one of those places that just feels ancient and almost mystical.
I can only imagine what it would be like to walk it on a day when the mist comes down into the forest.
The path begins to undulate but it’s never very steep. Sometimes the trees part to give you a glimpse of the incredible mountains beyond.
After 900m you reach the official Eagles Nest Lookout which has a great view, but to be honest no better than the gaps in the trees beforehand!
From the lookout the forest gets even mossier and we were stopping to take photos every few steps. It’s one of the most beautiful stretches of forest we’ve walked in Australia.
The path isn’t difficult but it does become more uneven and rockier. You’ll start heading downhill again, passing a small waterfall before the track heads more steeply uphill. Again it is quite rocky and the rocks do get damp but it wasn’t too slippery.
Arriving at Weeping Rock
After 1.5km you’ll arrive at Weeping Rock. The scale of the fern and moss covered cliffside is incredible and the natural springs above it keep it weeping all year round - although in winter the water turns to icicles which is something I would love to see! It’s so green and it almost doesn’t look real.
It’s a spectacular spot and you feel like you’re deep in the rainforest despite being on such a short trail.
You’ll walk through more Antarctic beech forest heading very gradually uphill, passing through two boulders which feel like a little cave.
You’ll continue walking uphill before coming to a track junction where you need to turn right to continue back towards Point Lookout.
From this point onwards you leave the sensational mossy forest and enter the dry snow gum woodland. It’s pretty but definitely not in the league of the rest of the walk.
At the 2.1km mark you’ll come to an un-signposted lookout which has good mountain views, before you reach the more obscured view at Platypus Valley Lookout - it seems to be a theme on this walk that the un-named lookouts are the best!
You then have a short and gentle climb back to the car park at Point Lookout.
All in all, I loved this walk, it’s rare that such a short trail has so much variety and the magical mossy forest made this one of my favourite walks in NSW!
Essential information about the Eagles Nest Walking Track
Getting there
The Eagles Nest Walk starts from Point Lookout car park in New England National Park which is just off the Waterfall Way. The closest town is Dorrigo, which is a 1 hour drive away (Bellingen is 1.5 hours away).
The access road
The last 10km of the road into the park is unsealed. For the most part it’s ok but there are quite a few potholes and some corrugations.
It was probably in a worse state than usual when we visited though, as there had been such a long period of heavy rain. You don’t need a 4WD but you will want to take it slow in parts.
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