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Carrai National Park

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Overview

Carrai National Park is located on a granite plateau off the North Coast of New South Wales, offering bushwalking, mountain biking, 4WD touring and camping for self-reliant campers.

Read more about Carrai National Park

Inland from Kempsey, Carrai National Park protects vast tracts of eucalypt groves and subtropical rainforest on Carrai plateau, a huge granite area with steep escarpments that drop dramatically to Kunderang Brook and Macleay River.

For those with a sense of adventure, a 4WD, and some good camping gear, this part of the New England Tablelands offers an excellent opportunity to get back to the bush; very little infrastructure exists in the park’s 11,397ha. Some basic huts offer shelter at Daisy Plains, and rough tracks traverse the thick forest. One of them is the only access to Marys View lookout in neighbouring Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, and all are great for mountain bikers.

Experienced bushwalkers can trek out through the forest and enjoy jaw-dropping views across the Macleay River valley. Keep your eyes peeled too, because Carrai is home to more than 125 different species of animals, from the endangered Hastings Rivers mouse to native carnivores such as quolls and dingoes. For those with good eyes and a pair of binoculars, several vulnerable species of owls and bats also live in the park.

Highlights in this park

  • 4WD, Carrai National Park. Photo: Piers Thomas/NSW Government

    Carrai and Coachwood trails

    Carrai and Coachwood trails combines 2 remote 4WD adventures in Carrai National Park and Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, between Kempsey and Armidale...

  • Daisy Plains picnic area, Carrai National Park. Photo: NSW Government

    Daisy Plains picnic area

    Visit Daisy Plains picnic area when you travel through Carrai National Park by 4WD. It’s the perfect spot for peaceful lunch when exploring this park’...

 

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A family walk a boardwalk section of Bouddi coastal walk, Bouddi National Park. Photo: John Spencer/OEH.

 

Saving Our Species program

Australia is home to more than 500,000 animal and plant species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Saving our Species is a statewide conservation program that addresses the growing number of Australian animals and Australian native plants facing extinction.

Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in a tree. Photo: Courtesy of Taronga Zoo/OEH

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In this park:

Things to do (4)

Tours (1)

Itinerary (1)