Warrgamay Country - Broadwater State Forest Park
September 2022
September 2022.
This is one of those locations that I have seen the sign too for many decades but never driven in. As you head north just past Ingham you will see a sign on the left hand side to Broadwater State Forest.
From there it is a 50 kilometre journey much of it through cane farms. Half of the journey is on bitumen and the other half on a well maintained gravel road.
From the day use area when you arrive there is a board walk that takes you into the rainforest. No gradients, a nice flat short 200 metre walk for pretty much everyone.
At the end you arrive at the base of a large fig tree. The boardwalk loops around the fig tree but you can exit there onto a dirt track that loops further into the rainforest and down to the river.
I have done that rainforest walk in the rain and also the dry. I recommend doing it in the rain.
Every thing looks better in the wet and you truly get to experience a rainforest.
The floor of the rainforest provides a large variety of fungi to observe.
Along that rainforest walk there are several spots where you can make your way down to the water. When I first arrived at this spot there were two feral pigs in that sand in the bottom left. A striking feature of this location is the amount of deadfall in the water.
While I was sitting there enjoying the location a Giant white-tailed Rat swam across the river and climbed up the bank.
The water is crystal clear and you can see why it is such a popular spot with locals for swimming.
Rufous Fantail.
There are some small sandy sections at the river that you can sit down to enjoy a picnic and swim. I was joined for an hour or so on the sand by this very active Rufous Fantail, who would not fan his tail for me :(
With the combination of water and an abundance of native flora it is no wonder that there is so much insect and birdlife present
There are camping facilities there that are very clean and well maintained. A permit is required to camp. The day use area is well visited by native birds. If you are into birds then just sit and wait. Brown backed Honeyeater and a Forest Kingfisher.