You’ll feel on top of the world gazing across the rugged gorges and dramatic mountain ranges of Barrington Tops National Park from Careys Peak lookout. At 1,544m, this walkin lookout is one of the highest points in the park and a popular destination for bushwalkers. You will be standing on the edge of the plateau surrounded by World Heritage-listed wilderness. From here you can observe how the steep ridges run south like fingers of an outstretched hand. It has been suggested that you can see the Blue Mountains on the clearest of days. I have returned here on many occasions since my first visit in 1965 or 1966 and taken in a different experience every time, coming from different starting locations including Gloucester Tops via the Link Trail, Williams River via Corker Trail and Polblue Campground via Barrington and Careys Peak Trails.
Some of my memories include watching smoke rising from the steel works in Newcastle about 100Km’s away, concentrating on Eagles floating on the wind and rising from the valley floor to way above your height of vision before dropping back to the valley floor to capture their prey. Arriving here during the depths of winter and making cups out of snow which we filled with a special medicinal liquid to warm us up.
No matter how you decide to undertake this unique Virtual experience, you will need to consider preparing for a minimum 12 hour return journey during the months that the gates are closed to 4x4 vehicles (Barrington trail is only open to vehicles from October 1 to May 31). It’s a good idea to let someone know where you are going. Fill in a trip intention form and include important details about your trip. This will be left with your emergency contact. The Giardia parasite has been identified in the area so it's a good idea to have your own water or a suitable filter. Toilets are at Wombat Creek and Black Swamp campgrounds.
Newcastle Bushwalking Club built two explorer’s huts for hikers needing shelter way before I started to visit the area and named them after founding members Selby Alley and Darby Munro. Suitable for intrepid & respectful overnight hikers only, find the huts and sleep in history. NPWS provides a shelter shed close to GZ.
At GZ you will find a Sun Dial. Your log for this cache requires you to post a photo of yourself or something that identifies you with the Sun Dial. Logs that don't include this will be deleted.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.