Exploring around Misty Mountain

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I recently had a great opportunity to visit Misty Mountain in NSW with my Brisbane bushwalking club.



We drove down on Friday from Brisbane and stopped in Murwillumbah for lunch before arriving at Misty Mountain campground at Kunghur in NSW and setting up our tents. This area is the traditional, ancestral territory of Bundialung and Yugambeh First Nations people.



Our campground at Kunghur was located between Nimbin and Murwillumbah. There are lots of camping sites catering to all kinds of campers. There is a central amenities area with four hot showers and four flushing toilets located above the Games Room and Camp Kitchen.



The views from the campground were fantastic of the Border Ranges and the back of Wollumbin (Mount Warning). The main kitchen and lounge area had amenities including games, a pool table and a table tennis table. We had a compostable toilet close to our tent site. You could buy great coffee, snacks and drinks from the kiosk.



After an early breakfast on Saturday morning, we set off on a hike to Brummies Lookout. We drove to the start of the fire trail and walked into the Wollumbin (Mount Warning) National Park where we started our walk.



We walked along Brummies Road along a logging road through lovely rainforest and tall forest. Along the way, we had beautiful views of the Border Ranges as we trekked through the forest.



After about an hour we took the turnoff to Brummies Lookout, which became a narrow track uphill. On the way, we passed a Stephen’s Banded snake in the middle of the track.





I have seen a couple of these rare Stephen’s Banded snakes at Lamington National Park on other walks. Stephens Banded snake (Hoplocephalus stephensii) is a highly venomous tree snake in the family Elapidae.



They are grey to black with brown or cream crossbands. They grow to 1.2 metres and are found in coastal southeastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales. They live in rainforests, moist forests, heaths and vine thickets. We were lucky to see one, as they are largely nocturnal and rare in some areas. They are good climbers and spend most of their time up in trees.
This species is potentially dangerous and a ready-biter. Its venom affects blood clotting. If bitten, you need to apply first aid and seek urgent medical attention. They feed mainly on frogs, reptiles and small mammals.


We had some great views along the climb to the lookout. There were signs at the lookout to be very careful about falling off the cliff edge. The views were a bit obscured by trees on top of the ridge, but we did find some good lookout spots where we could see the sheer western cliff face of Wollumbin (Mount Warning) and the Border Ranges.



Wollumbin, which rises from World Heritage-listed Wollumbin National Park to a height of 1,157 metres above sea level, is a remnant central vent of an ancient volcano.
I read that the lookout was named after a logger called Brummie who used to climb up to the lookout to spot red cedar trees, which were called “red gold”. I still have a beautiful red cedar table that we bought many years ago from a second-hand dealer in Townsville.



Our leader Bernie had done the walk previously, but on that trip, he had approached the lookout from the opposite direction. The route down from the lookout to the forestry road was very steep and slippery. Luckily there were lots of trees to hold onto and walking poles helped a lot. We needed to keep close together because it was easy to lose the track in the thick bush and the track was very overgrown. I think you do need to be confident with navigation to do this walk as it would be very easy to lose the trail. You also need to wear good, grippy shoes or boots.



The Brummies Lookout Loop is a grade 4 hike in Wollumbin National Park, New South Wales. It is 11 kilometres and the circuit takes around 4 hours. It starts at Tyalgum Ridge Road in Wollumbin National Park.

We eventually got back onto the forestry road and walked back to our cars. We drove back to the campsite, had a nice hot shower and enjoyed our delicious wood-fired pizzas at the camp kitchen, which we had pre-ordered. We were all tired after our big day but did enjoy some drinks and snacks around a campfire.



On Sunday we did a nice easy 10-kilometre walk from the campground to Sky Camp, Scott’s lookout around Misty Loop. This one was on fairly flat ground so we didn’t have to do a big climb like the previous day. On the way, we did enjoy a break and snack at Sky camp with beautiful mountain views and even a bush swing. We were also lucky to watch a hovering black-shouldered kite for a long time.





We got back to our campsite around 12 midday, packed up our tents and headed for home, stopping on the way for lunch at the Sawmill café in the Numinbah Valley.

Nice place for a rest

It was a wonderful weekend to explore a new very interesting and beautiful wild area.



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