There are over a dozen amazing walks you can do to explore Beowa National Park near Eden in southern New South Wales. But if you want a taste of the dramatic coastline, beautiful beaches and abundant wildlife that Beowa is renowned for, The Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach Walk is a great choice.
We did this walk late one afternoon in summer and it was a highlight of our trip to Eden. Follow our quick guide to this walk to find out what you will see, where it starts and who it is suitable for.
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About Beowa National Park
Formerly known as Ben Boyd National Park, the park is now named after the local aboriginal word for killer whale. Killer whales were at the heart of Eden’s whaling industry and before that, a major part of Thaua culture.
Beowa National Park is split into two parts, north and south of Eden. The Green Cape area lies to the south, the Pambula Haycock area to the north.
All the roads in Beowa National Park are dirt tracks but they are mostly suitable for 2wd cars. There are no park fees for the Pambula Haycock area, but there are for the Green Cape Section.
The Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach walk is in the fee free northern part of the park.
Guide to Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach Walking Track
Where is the walk?
The entrance to the Pambula – Haycock part of Beowa National Park is 15km north or Eden or 25km south of Merimbula. The turn off is on the Princes Highway.
Where does the walk start?
You can start at either Barmouth Beach or Haycock Point Picnic Area. From the turn off into the national park, you have a 7.5km drive to Barmouth Beach or 8km drive to Haycock Point Picnic area on dirt roads.
The road is suitable for 2wds.
How Long is the Walk?
The Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach walk is a 5-6km return walk. Total length depends on whether you walk out to Haycock Point or bypass it.
Difficulty
Easy to moderate level walk. There are a few steps and undulations near Barmouth Beach, but they are not steep or long. The first part of the walk from Haycock Point is exposed, there is more shade as you near Barmouth Beach.
Highlights
This is a great walk for nature lovers. Expect to see kangaroos, goannas, echidnas, wallabies and sea eagles. There are spectacular views of the coast and Barmouth Beach and the Pambula River Mouth are stunning spots for a swim.
Facilities
There are toilets at both ends of the walk and a picnic area at Haycock Point
Best time to do the walk?
You are more likely to spot wildlife if you walk later in the afternoon.
Our experience of the Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach walk
It was an overcast day when we started our walk from the Haycock Point around 3.00pm.
The main reason we started from here was because someone had told us the that the picnic ground was a good place to see a goanna – or lace monitor – and we weren’t disappointed.
A huge lace monitor waddled its way along through the grass near the picnic tables. It was a great sight, quite different to the little skinks we see darting around our backyard!
It wasn’t the only one we spotted, but more on that later.
Haycock Point
The track for the full walk is well signed. From the picnic area you take an easy flight of wooden steps down to a small bridge and continue along a grass track.
Not much further along you get to a sign where you have the choice of going to Haycock Point or bypassing it and continuing to Barmouth Beach.
If you have the time, check out, Haycock Point. Even in the dull conditions we had for our walk, the maroon coloured rocks were spectacular. There were rock pools to look around too.
Even if you are not up for the full walk, it is worth taking a look at Haycock Point. It is a great sight, and we spotted a few sleepy kangaroos on the path to the beach too.
Coastal Lookout & Sea Eagles
From Haycock Point you rejoin the path to Barmouth Beach. From the open grass area, the bushland soon thickens up. Even though you lose sight of the coast there are clearings along the way where you get great views.
There is more colourful, contorted rock, and these clearing are also a great spot to look for white bellied sea eagles which are common along the coast between Eden and Merimbula.
We had spotted a huge eagle overhead as we left Haycock Point, but it flew out of view. Then as we took in the views from one of the lookouts, we saw it again.
It was an amazing sight, second only in size to wedge tail eagles, the juvenile sea eagle) did laps between us and the next headland. We must have watched it for ten or fifteen minutes as it glided both high in the air and low over the water. It really is worth looking up as you do the walk!
Barmouth Beach
From about halfway, the trail goes in land a little and the air was full of bird calls. It was hard to escape the beeping sound of the bellbirds.
The trail then heads back towards the coast and just before Barmouth Beach there is a great view of a rock arch that has been carved by the waves.
The sun tried to come out at Barmouth Beach, and we got a glimpse of how beautiful this spot could be. There was more purple rock and on a clear day the water would have glowed turquoise blue.
There are a few steps down to the beach and rocks, it is probably the hardest part of the walk, but it is not a steep track. The nice thing is, on a nicer day you can just drive back to Barmouth Beach for a swim and snorkel and take in the views across the river.
Late afternoon wildlife
It was a bit after 4.00pm when we started our walk back which is a great time to see wildlife.
We glimpsed the back end of an echidna which was fun, at least we can say we saw one! With the weather cooling down we didn’t expect to see another lace monitor, but we did. We watched a tail shoot into the grass as we came around a bend in the track.
We backed off a bit and about 5 minutes little, it ventured out onto the path – where it stopped. We got a great look at. Eventually it finished crossing the track, disappearing into the long grass.
Back near Haycock Point we turned another corner and walked straight into a mob of 15 eastern grey kangaroos. They all stopped grazing, sat up and stared us – we really felt like intruders. We sat down and watched them for a while as they spread themselves out down the track to Haycock Point.
While seeing a kangaroo was far from anew experience, it is still great seeing them in the wild and being able to sit there quietly as they do their thing.
In summary…
Nature lovers, families, anyone who likes the beach… the Haycock Point to Barmouth Beach walk has something for everyone. It is a great way to spend a morning or afternoon if you are looking for an activity while you visit Merimbula or Eden.
Even if you don’t do the full walk, we saw most of the wildlife in the first half of the walk so you could just start at Haycok Point and walk to the first lookout for a shorter stroll. You can always drive to Barmouth Beach to take in the views there.
If you enjoyed this story you might also like:
Bundian Way Story Trail | Eden Nature Cruise | Things to do in Narooma
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