Tooloom National Park

Tooloom National Park is a great place for walking, picnicking, birdwatching and scenic views to the Great Dividing Range.

Bordered by dry forest and farmland, Tooloom National Park protects a lush, cool landscape of subtropical rainforest known as Tooloom Scrub, which is part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area. The park also includes important sections of red and flooded gum. Tooloom lies within the traditional land of the Githabul Aboriginal people. Enjoy a picnic and a walk in this gorgeous natural environment of strangler figs, glossy green rainforest foliage and superb scenic views.

Ten species of kangaroos and wallabies inhabit the park, including the threatened long-nosed potoroo. Take an easy hike along Tooloom walking track and you’ll probably see a red-necked pademelon dart across the trail. Listen for the rasping call of paradise riflebirds, which sometimes decorate their nests with snakeskin. In the case of Tooloom, that’s likely to be the discarded outer layer of a Stephens banded snake or a carpet python.

Facilities

Toilet, picnic tables, bbq facilities (wood), carpark, disabled access

Accessing Tooloom National Park

To access Tooloom National Park from the Mount Lindesay Highway, turn towards Urbenville on the Tooloom Road and continue for approximately 20km to the Tooloom Picnic Area. To access the park from Urbenville, head towards Legume on the Tooloom Road and continue for approximately 17km to the Tooloom Picnic Area.

Access to Tooloom National Park is on sealed roads.

Things to do in Tooloom National Park

Tooloom Walking Track

Distance: 1km loop
Time suggested: 15-45 minutes

Tooloom walking track is a short, easy stroll through World Heritage rainforest of Tooloom National Park, with plenty of opportunities for birdwatching.

Tooloom walking track takes you on a short, easy walk a little deeper into the lush rainforest of Tooloom Scrub. Over 200 species of birds have been recorded in the park and many of these inhabit the rainforest.

To either side of this trail are large rainforest trees and vines stretching from the leaf-littered forest floor to the high canopy above. Twisted roots of strangler figs can be seen among walking stick palms, which fruit bright red in summer.

Bring along your binoculars and take your time birdwatching. You may be lucky enough to spot an endangered Coxen’s fig-parrot, which is one of the smallest parrots in Australia at only 15-16cm long. It’s mainly bright yellow-green with red and blue markings on its relatively large head. Their call is quick and high-pitched and easy to miss, so keep your ears as well as your eyes peeled.

Tooloom Picnic Area

Tooloom picnic area is nestled in a small clearing surrounded by lush Tooloom Scrub in Tooloom National Park. A walking track and scenic lookout can be accessed from here.

Whether you’re on a road trip, cycling tour, or based in a nearby town, Tooloom picnic area is a great place to visit. Set in a small clearing within the lush subtropical rainforest of Tooloom Scrub, the picnic area gives you a taster of what’s to come if you decide to explore further on Tooloom walking track. Tooloom lookout, set in a eucalypt forest with sweeping scenic views, is also accessible from the picnic area.

As you enjoy a barbecue lunch with friends, family, or by yourself, listen out for the call of wompoo fruit-doves, which have a deep, resonant ‘wollack-a-woo’ or sometimes just ‘boo’ call. See if you can catch sight of one of these strikingly beautiful large doves, which are predominantly purple, yellow, and green. In summer, look out for the bright red fruit of walking stick palms in the rainforest surrounding the picnic area. In spring, the red tips of new leaves will decorate red cedars, and lime-green shoots can be seen on white cedars.

Tooloom Lookout

It’s a short, easy walk to magnificent scenic views across World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and out to Great Dividing Range from Tooloom lookout.

Tooloom lookout offers extensive scenic views of the deep green canopy of World Heritage Tooloom Scrub and west across farmland and forested hills out to Great Dividing Range. It’s only a short stroll from Tooloom picnic area to the ridge top through tall eucalypt forest, with a yellow understorey of blady and kangaroo grasses, and acacia scrub.

Along the way, keep an eye out for southern angle-headed dragons basking in the warming sun clinging to the side of a stump, sapling, or tree buttress. You’ll have to look carefully because they’re experts in camouflage. If one sees you first, it’s likely to slide silently from view rather than dash for cover. You’re also likely to see at least one of the 10 different species of wallabies and kangaroos on your way to the lookout. Black-striped wallabies, also known as scrub wallabies, have a distinct dark stripe running from neck to rump.