KWIAMBAI CALLING

WATERFALLS, HIKING TRAILS, CAVES AND QUIET CAMPSITES – KWIAMBAL NATIONAL PARK HAS ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR A WEEKEND ADVENTURE OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

- KEV SMITH

Kwiambal National Park, in northern NSW, covers just 9200ha and is the traditional country of the Kwiambal people, who descend from the Murri people of the northwest and have lived in the area for thousands of years.

Evidence of their long connection remains today, with sacred sites and hunting grounds scattered throughout the park where Kwiambal ancestors once lived year-round.

Located 80km north of Inverell, Kwiambal is a serene and peaceful place where European history dates back to 1827. Explorer and botanist Allan Cunningham, known for his expeditions along the eastern seaboard into uncolonised areas, ventured through northwest NSW that year. He was collecting plant species north of Inverell in what was thought to be an uninhabited area, but instead discovered a squatter’s shack and cattle near what is now the township of Ashford. By 1830 settlers had begun arriving on the northwest slopes, and Ashford was declared a village in 1860.

I first visited Kwiambal nearly 10 years ago and was keen to return for some time out and a chance to reconnect with nature. After a quick stop in Ashford, it's only a 30-minute drive to the park's boundary. Tobacco farming was a major industry out here between 1969 and 1994, and if you look around you'll still see a few of the old drying sheds – most now used for farm storage – built from cypress and ironbark. Unfortunately, there's still plenty of prickly pear cactus about; even Allan Cunningham noted during his explorations that it was once so thick it couldn't be walked through.