Nightcap National Park

Nightcap National Park sits on the southern rim of the Tweed shield volcano, a caldera formed more than twenty million years ago whose eroded remains dominate the Northern Rivers, and it holds subtropical rainforest that receives the highest rainfall in New South Wales. Minyon Falls drops around a hundred metres over a rhyolite cliff into a rainforest gorge, seen from a lookout at the top or reached by a track to the base. Protesters occupied Terania Creek here in 1979 in an action that stopped rainforest logging and shaped Australian environmental politics; the forest they defended is now World Heritage-listed. The park holds rare species including the nightcap oak, described only in 2000.

What you actually see

• Minyon Falls - a hundred-metre drop over rhyolite into rainforest.
• The caldera rim - the volcanic escarpment with views to Mount Warning.
• Terania Creek - the forest at the centre of the 1979 protests.
• The rare plants - nightcap oak and other endemic Gondwanan species.

When to go

April to November for drier tracks; this is the wettest part of the state and summer rain is heavy, with tracks and roads closing after storms. The falls are strongest after rain. Leeches are abundant in wet weather.

Honest expectations

Access roads are partly unsealed and can be closed by landslip; several tracks have been shut for extended periods after major storms. The walk to the base of Minyon Falls is long and steep. Phone coverage is poor.

Nearby

Lismore and Nimbin lie south and west; Byron Bay is east on the coast.