^{Crowdy Bay National Park}

Crowdy Bay National Park

The Diamond Head - Kylie's Hut Areas

Enjoying Your Park

Three main camping areas all offer access to some very well constructed trails for bushwalking, with excellent beaches at the Diamond Head and Kylie's Beach main areas!

Below:  Entrance to the park from the southern Crowdy Head end ("ENTRY SIGN" on map above)

View the Full Park Map for Instructions on How to Get Here!

 
Right:  Rufous Red Wallaby near the John's River road off Diamond Head road

Harrington and Crowdy Head are both gateways to one of Australia's most beautiful coastal rainforest, headland and beach national parks -- Crowdy Bay National Park.  

The Crowdy Bay National Park, runs over 5000 hectares up the coast from Harrington to Crowdy Bay and up to Indian Head and Diamond Head.  Click Here for instructions on how to get here from Crowdy Head and Harrington.

The park combines beaches, beautiful sand dunes, coastal forest, heath lands and swamp areas. The lagoons in the park are noted habitats for water birds and the beaches are quiet and peaceful.

Access to the park is via Crowdy Head, or if you are on the Pacific Highway, you can also go in north of Coopernook from Moorland (preferred if on highway) or at John's River through state forest (a lesser road maintained by council).  

  Above:  Bell flowers on the Kylie's Loop trail

Kylie's Beach

The first right off the main road (the main road veers left) after going past the entry station is the Kylie's Beach camping ground area, which offers tent areas and easy beach access for 4WD vehicles.

A short 1km trail leads north from the northern-most camping area to the Kylie's Hut tent area (where vehicle access is not allowed), and then on north to connect with the Kylie's Lookout camping area and the main Kylie's loop trail. 

Read more about this beautiful area from the great-nephew of Ernie Metcalfe, Kylie's Man on the Headland, National Parks and Wildlife Service's Peter Metcalfe.

Below:  Happy Ant on her Banksia along the trail on the North Side of Diamond Head

Kylie's Hut

The second right after going past the entry station is the Kylie's Hut/Kylie's Lookout/Indian Head camping ground area.

One of the most famous inhabitants of the area was a man named Ernie Metcalf who was subject of a story by Kylie Tennant titled The Man on the Headland. Metcalfe built Tennant a house near Diamond Head which was restored by the National Parks in 1980. 

"The song goes up the cliffs with the quivering heat of grey driftwood, the scent of seaweed and dry grass, up where the track winds higher than the sea-hawk hovering"

- from The Man on the Headland, a novel by Kylie Tennant

Below:  Kooka on Kylie's Hut

Below:  Kylie's Hut (with Kooka)

Find out more about the big monitor lizards, wallabies, birds, whales and dolphins in the park now in the species list now!

Below:  Eastern Grey Kangaroo, very common at all the camping areas, seemingly well treated by humans as they're quite tolerant.  Never get between a male and his females however!

The Kylie's Loop Trail is becoming more and more popular as holidaymakers from Harrington find out about this natural beauty, but there are few days you'll come across more than a handful of other on this find coastal and rainforest track!

Read an Account by Peter Metcalfe on the Kylie's Beach Area!

Kylie's Lookout

Below:  Looking back to Crowdy Head (about 10km) from the fabulous lookout, just a 5 minute easy walk from the Kylie's Hut car park 

Below:  Along the Kylie's Loop headland and rainforest trail, the "Arch", just around the bend from the above view

If you're thinking about stopping at The Arch (above) -- think again!  Almost year-round there are some great displays of flowers in the coastal heath lands swept back against the headland winds!

A small selection of the Diamond Head flowers:

You'll work up QUITE an appetite in our neighbouring national park!
Check out our Check Out our Great Restaurants Now so you'll know where you're going when you return!

Diamond Head

Above: Viewed from the north here, the camping area is located just behind where the end of the arc of the beach meet the rocks of the headland.  You can see the trail leading up the spine of Diamond Head towards the rainforest zone of Todea creek on the right.  You can just see Mermaid Reef in the upper-right of this photo (click for full sized!)

Above:  Eastern Grey Kangaroos abound (and bound) at all of the camping areas, with the most reliable populations generally at the Diamond Head area. They're quite at home in the park, and couldn't care less what you do frankly!

 The Diamond Head camping area is staffed by park personnel most of the day, and is the base area for the park with caravan and tent sites across three main areas with excellent close beach and headland access. 

If you enjoy fishing, from the rock platforms to the north of the main camping area at Diamond Head beach, you can catch groper, bream, tailor and drummer.  

With all main areas open to car access, Diamond Head shines as a spectacular outcrop 113 metres above sea level.  

Just south of Diamond Head is Indian Head, a small stack out to sea, named by Captain Cook when he sailed up the coast in 1770. He had sighted Aborigines, whom he called 'indians', on the craggy headland.

Right:  Boronia of some sort.  We'll have to get a "What Flower is That" book at some point. 

Above:  Oxoblum scandens about half way up to the summit

Left: Banksias in their golden glories

See our beautiful national park from the sky!  

Fly High Over Diamond Head
 in a Tandem Microlite!

Below:  Just south from the Diamond Head summit, extensive sandstone shelves begin their march down to The Arch near Kylie's Lookout. 

Read More About Crowdy Head by a visitor with some local history!

(All Photos this page courtesy siteware)

For more National Parks information on Crowdy Bay National Park, please click here! 

Please note that provision of roads, trail and location information in no way promotes unsafe activities at any time!