Washpools and Middlebrook walking tracks

Where

Towarri National Park in Country NSW

Accessibility

No wheelchair access

Distance

1.2km loop

Time suggested

30min - 1hr

Grade

Grade 3

What to
bring

Drinking water, sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, snacks

Please note

• If you’d like to extend your walk, follow Middlebrook walk 350m further downstream to Washpools campground, and then return back to Washpools picnic area, or continue on the Range View track.
• Campers can start the walk from Washpools campground, following the Middlebrook walk upstream. 
• There is no bridge across the creek, so you’ll need to rock hop or get your feet wet crossing the creek. 
• Drinking water is not available in this area so it’s a good idea to bring your own.
• There’s limited mobile reception in this park.

Washpools and Middlebrook walking tracks offer a journey of contrasts along a tranquil creek in Towarri National Park. You’ll cover rough, rocky creek banks, grasslands, open woodlands, and go rock hopping.

Start at Washpools picnic area and walk 500m upstream along the creek’s rocky western bank. When you reach Washpools waterhole, reward yourself with a break and enjoy a dip at this popular swimming spot, if the brook is running. Or enjoy a lunch break in the shade of river oaks before crossing the creek. Follow Middlebrook walk downstream, winding through Poa tussock grasslands, rough-barked apple forests and regenerating eucalypt woodlands. Cross back over the creek (rock hop or get your feet wet) and loop back to the picnic area.

This 1.2km walk is ideal for adventurous families and fit bushwalkers. In some areas, you’ll be challenged by uneven surfaces, natural obstacles and slippery ground underfoot. But you’ll also enjoy the journey through narrow-leaved ironbarks and forest redgums, and the fresh earthy smell of the creek. If you visit in spring, you might see wattles in bloom, and in autumn you’ll enjoy a cool and quiet environment.

Birdwatchers will be kept busy by the array of birds that live here. See if you can spot glossy black cockatoos feeding on oak trees and flocks of grey-crowned babblers gliding through the canopy. Keep an eye out for threatened brown treecreepers, diamond firetails, black-chinned honeyeaters and speckled warblers.

You could also see lace monitors, pobblebonks (eastern banjo frogs) and hear rocky-river frogs croaking in the brook. If you’re visiting near dusk or dawn, you might see echidnas searching for ants and termites, or bare-nosed wombats grazing.

For directions, safety and practical information, see visitor info