Mt Warning - Staircase to the sky

In 1993 NSW NPWS published a glossy 20 page guide to Mount Warning National Park. It's one of the best park guides I've come across and a great credit to the authors Berkeley Wiles and Lyn Skillings.

The guide is no longer available. I found a copy in the NSW State Library (catalogue number 919.44304, ISBN 0731008243). The book contains a wonderful description of the summit walk under the heading "Staircase to the sky" that reads as follows:

Staircase to the sky

Mount Warning is different things to different people — a challenge, a rainforest experience, a staircase to spectacular views, a feast of sights sounds and smells that awaken the senses... or just an escape.

Whatever the attraction, Mount Warning is visited by about 60 000 people each year. `Have you climbed Mount Warning?' has become a catchcry amongst locals and visitors alike. Those who have climbed it gain an instant affinity with each other, a common achievement to discuss together.

Age does not appear to be a barrier for those who attempt the climb. Children as young as five have reached the summit unaided. Likewise people in their 80s are also successful. A reasonable degree of fitness and a determined attitude would seem to be the necessary criteria.

This World Heritage Rainforest Park located in the Tweed Valley, occupies an area of about 2 380 hectares. It is reached by leaving the Pacific Highway at Murwillumbah and following the Kyogle road west for 12 km, then the Mount Warning road a further 5 km to the Korrumbyn Creek picnic area at the park entrance. By continuing a further 1.5 km you reach the Breakfast Creek parking area at the base of the mountain where the summit walking track begins.

The summit track climbs and winds through 4.4 km of changing vegetation communities, with a final steep rock scramble emerging to 360° views reaching every distant horizon. The entire walk takes about five hours and although strenuous, can be accomplished by pacing oneself according to age and fitness.

Camping and fires are not permitted in Mount Warning National Park. However, Korrumbyn Creek picnic area provides picnic tables, barbecues, wood, water and toilets. For people wishing to camp overnight or longer, a privately operated facility — Wollumbin Caravan Park — is on the Mount Warning road, 3.5 km from the park proper.

It's to the great shame of NPWS that the guide is no longer available.

Sadly Berkeley Wiles passed away in 2012.

A few other pages are presented below:

cover

Staircase to the sky, p2

Things you should know, p3

Aboriginal History P6-7

European History P8-9

Geology P12-13

Comments

Mount Warning: Aboriginal claims about summit climb are contested

"How can the public experience the spiritual significance of this land if they do not climb the summit and witness creation." Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd RIP NSW NPWS have the following description about Aboriginal attitudes to people climbing to the summit of Mt Warning on their webpage about the walking track: Wollumbin, which means ‘cloud catcher’ to some Aboriginal People, is a traditional place of cultural law, initiation and spiritual education for the people of the Bundjalung Nation. Under Bundjalung law, only certain people can climb the summit. Out of respect for their law and culture, consider not climbing the summit. These claims, including the very name applied to the mountain, are contested and it seems there is another story that NSW NPWS have not properly acknowledged and have long kept from public attention. We came across this article from the Daily News February 24 2007 about Ngaraakwal Elder Marlene Boyd that makes for interesting reading. It seems

Mt Warning - Summit signing, time capsule

A Mt Warning Visit, summit signing Drove up the long road from Sydney, leaving early to grab a beer at the Mt Warning Hotel at Uki in the afternoon. There's a nice view of the summit from the smoker's deck. The tip of the mountain was catching clouds and then letting them go. I met Roger, a one-legged ex- navy seal and former security guard to Gloria Estafan. He was an interesting bloke, sucking a large Cuban cigar and slamming spiced rum on ice. He had one eye, apparently, he had lost the other blue pearl in a firefight with Somali terrorists in the Persian Gulf. We had a brief discussion of current affairs and the insanity of public parks being closed for no good reason, and vandalism of the tourism industry by a woke broken Bureaucracy - just light conversation. I mentioned I had a mission that might suit him and he agreed to join in. We headed to the Mt Warning Rainforest Caravan Park. Mt Warning from the Mt Warning Hotel Roads around the area are still not repaired from la

Chain and post removed at Mount Warning Summit Walk

The current situation is a disgrace and an insult to Park users and all Australians. The Minister must instigate an independent audit and review of NSW NPWS management of the Park and develop a brighter vision of the Park's future. The walk to the summit of Mt Warning in northern NSW is an iconic experience of the natural world. Views from the summit on a clear day provide an unrivaled vista over the Tweed River Valley, lush rainforests, eroded volcanic landscape and beaches on the coast. They fill visitors with a sense of awe and wonder. From a geological perspective, it is arguably the best-preserved erosion caldera in the world. The 4.4km (8.8km return) track was completed in 1909 but the hike was firmly established as a popular tourist attraction in 1929 with the declaration of the area around the mountain as a National Park. The opening ceremony was attended at the summit by 200 people, some rode horses up the trail. The standard of the early track construction is extreme

Right to Climb

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