The New England National Park is a protected

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

located on the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England reg ...

in the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The park was created in May 1935 and is situated approximately north of Sydney, and south of Waterfall Way, just east of

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands, New South ...

and west of

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggir ...

. The closest village to New England National Park is

Ebor Ebor is the abbreviation of the Latin '' Eboracum'', the early name of York in Britain. It may also mean: * Ebor, the legal alias of the Archbishops of York * Ebor, Manitoba, a community in Canada * Ebor, New South Wales, a village in Australia ...

, located away. The park is part of the New England Group

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the

Australian National Heritage List The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...

in 2007. More than 1,000 plant species are found within the park, attracting prolific birdlife.

History

In the 1920s

Phillip Wright Phillip Arundell Wright, (20 July 1889 – 30 August 1970), Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, was the second Chancellor of the University of New England from 1960 until 1970. Biography Born on the property Wongwibinda, near Armid ...

of Wollomombi led the push to have this area declared a National Park. Most of the area was declared a reserve in 1931 and in 1935 dedicated for public recreation. Between 1934 and 1956 mining leases for

antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient ti ...

were granted. The national park was officially opened by the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

Lord Gowrie in 1937, although the wilderness area was recognised for its beauty as early as the 1920s. New England National Park (NENP) was

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

listed in 1986 and forms part of the New England Group of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (previously the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia) (CERRA). The Gondwana Rainforests of Australia was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007.

Geography

Located on the precipitous escarpment on the east of the undulating Northern Tablelands plateau, the wilderness consists of impressive cliffs, rugged ridges, spurs and streams. To the west the Nymboida,

Guy Fawkes Guy Fawkes (; 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. He was born and educated ...

and

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

Rivers drain across the tablelands. To the east is the thickly forested

Bellinger River Bellinger River, an open and trained mature wave dominated, barrier estuary, is located in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Bellinger River rises below Point Lookout within the Great Dividing R ...

valley. The

Cunnawarra National Park Cunnawarra is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, east of Armidale, off the Waterfall Way and north of Sydney. The Styx River Forest Way runs from the Point Lookout Road through Cunnawarra National Park to the Kempsey Roa ...

adjoins the New England National Park on the north-western boundary and the

Bellinger River National Park Bellinger River National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, about 410 km north of Sydney. The main feature of the park is the Bellinger River and the unspoilt forests on its upper reaches. In a word, the untouched wildern ...

joins it on the north-eastern corner. Public access to the park focuses on the Point Lookout area, at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

, from where on a clear day the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

is visible. This lookout is the second tallest mountain in the region and one of the highest places north of the

Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales, Australia, and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia, being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera syst ...

Flora and fauna

The park lies within the Eastern Australian temperate forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas o ...

. It is noted for the wide variety of plant and animal species. The diverse vegetation in the park includes sub-tropical, warm temperate and cool temperate rainforest in the higher altitudes. There are also areas of

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forest,

sub-alpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land and swampland. In the eucalpyt forests Brush box,

Sydney blue gum ''Eucalyptus saligna'', commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-shaped to c ...

and Tallow-wood predominate. Heathland is found at Wrights Lookout and in other patches. Previous estimates of the number of different plant species in the park place the figure at 500. This figure has been revised upwards to around 1,000. This includes snow gums (''

Eucalyptus pauciflora ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...

''),

Antarctic beech Antarctic beech is a common name of two species in the genus ''Nothofagus'': *''Nothofagus antarctica'', native to South America *''Nothofagus moorei ''Nothofagus moorei'', commonly known as Antarctic beech, is an important Gondwana relict of t ...

, tree ferns and red cedars (''

Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (also ...

'').

Dingo The dingo (''Canis familiaris'', ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or '' Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal) lineage of dog found in Australia. Its taxonomic classification is debated as indicated by the variety of scient ...

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...

tiger quoll The tiger quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus''), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus '' Dasyurus'' native to Australia. With male ...

s, common bentwing bats, brown antechinuses, and northern brown bandicoots are some of the mammals found in the park.

Birds

At least 100 species of birds have been recorded. Larger species include the

wedge-tailed eagle The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

, greater sooty owl,

sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...

and

superb lyrebird The superb lyrebird (''Menura novaehollandiae'') is an Australian songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae. It is one of the world's largest songbirds, and is renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excell ...

. Eastern whipbirds, eastern bristlebirds,

crimson rosella The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The ...

Australian king parrot The Australian king parrot (''Alisterus scapularis'') is a species of parrot endemic to eastern Australia ranging from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria. Found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern port ...

s and several kinds of

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New G ...

s also inhabit the reserve. The park has been identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) because it supports one of five remaining populations of

rufous scrub-bird The rufous scrubbird (''Atrichornis rufescens'') is a bird species in the family Atrichornithidae. It is endemic to Australia. Taxonomy One of two species of ''Atrichornis'', known as scrubbirds, the only extant populations of the Atrichornit ...

s, as well as of

flame A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density the ...

and pale-yellow robins, paradise riflebirds, green catbirds, regent bowerbirds and Australian logrunners.

Facilities

There is an extensive walking track system that traverses the higher areas of the park. Limited accommodation is available in the park at Banksia Point. If visiting in winter it is a good idea to bring warm clothes because at such a high altitude the region experiences frequent snow falls and cold temperatures.

References

External links

* * * {{authority control National parks of New South Wales Northern Tablelands Forests of New South Wales Protected areas established in 1937 Gondwana Rainforests of Australia 1937 establishments in Australia Important Bird Areas of New South Wales