New England National Park

New England National Park sits where the tableland breaks away toward the coast, and Point Lookout at around 1,560 metres is its centrepiece: a rock platform above a drop of hundreds of metres, looking east over ridges of rainforest that on many mornings are filled with cloud so that the ridgelines float. The park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage listing, protecting Antarctic beech forest, snow gum woodland and warm temperate rainforest within a few kilometres of each other as altitude falls. Walking tracks descend from the lookout into the forest, including the Lyrebird and Eagles Nest tracks, and lyrebirds are commonly heard mimicking on them.

What you actually see

• Point Lookout - the escarpment platform above cloud-filled valleys.
• The Antarctic beech - ancient Gondwanan forest near the plateau top.
• The descent tracks - walks dropping through changing forest types.
• The lyrebirds - superb lyrebirds calling and mimicking along the tracks.

When to go

September to May for the best conditions; the plateau is cold, wet and often fogbound in winter, with occasional snow. Early morning gives the best chance of the cloud inversion below the lookout. Rain is frequent at any season.

Honest expectations

Cloud that makes the view famous can equally erase it entirely for days. The access road includes unsealed sections. Temperatures at the lookout are far colder than on the coast an hour away, and visitors regularly arrive underdressed.

Nearby

Dorrigo National Park lies east down the escarpment; Armidale is west.