Beowa National Park

Beowa, renamed in 2022 from Ben Boyd in consultation with Aboriginal communities, runs along the coast either side of Eden, and its signature is colour: the Pinnacles, a gully where white sand sits above deep red clay, eroded into ridges, and headlands of red rock dropping into clear water. The Light to Light walk covers about thirty kilometres of coast from Boyds Tower, an 1840s sandstone tower built for whale spotting, to Green Cape Lighthouse of 1883 at the southern end, taking two to three days with campsites along the way. Seals, whales and dolphins are seen from the headlands, and the forest behind holds burrawang palms and banksia heath.

History

The park was established in 1971 over 8,900 hectares and named after Benjamin Boyd, a wealthy pastoralist and shipping and whaling businessman of the 1840s on this coast, who in 1847 brought 65 Melanesian labourers to Boydtown, the first case of blackbirding in Australia, and who built a sandstone tower above Twofold Bay to spot whales, never completed. After consultation with more than 60 representatives of Aboriginal and South Sea Islander communities it was renamed Beowa, the Thaua word for orca, officially in September 2022 (Wikipedia, Beowa National Park).

What you'll find

• The Pinnacles - eroded white sand over deep red clay in a gully.
• Green Cape Lighthouse - the 1883 tower at the southern headland.
• Boyds Tower - the 1840s sandstone whale-spotting tower.
• The Light to Light walk - the multi-day coastal route between them.

When to go

September to May for walking and swimming; the far south coast is cold and windy in winter. Whales pass in spring. Fire has closed sections of the park in recent years, and checking current access before travelling is necessary.

Good to know

Access roads to the coastal sections are unsealed and rough in places. There is no water on the Light to Light track and campsites must be booked. The park was heavily burnt in the 2019 to 2020 fires and parts of the forest are still recovering.

Nearby

Eden lies north; the Victorian border and Croajingolong are south.

Key facts