This walk is a hidden gem. NSW whilst a great walking destination has little infrastructure to support multi day trekking in comfort. I had a group of retirees who love walking but like to sleep on a comfortable bed and enjoy a hot shower and a nice meal at the end of the day. Being locked down to NSW was a problem that this little coastal walk solved very nicely. The walk takes 4 days and is very flat. To complete the walk you need to be able to walk 5 to 6 hours a day and have sufficient flexibility to clamber around some foreshore rocks in a couple of locations. And, at the moment, an ability to swim about 15 metres. Daily distances range from about 15km to 22km. We stayed at Wooli River Lodges for the duration of the walk and were bused out and picked up at the trackheads each day. The pub next door is another gem. Emilio's bistro serves good quality meals with fresh fish and quality ingredients. We ate there 6 nights and it was busy every time. We employed the services of Yuraygir Walking Experiences. They provided detailed and very useful advice. They provide transport to/from the trackheads on a flexible basis and with mobile reception along most of the walk (not quite all) they provide a good backup in case of difficulty. They live locally and know and live the walk on a constant basis so its fun listening to their stories. I can recommend them. The key to enjoying this walk is timing. Tides dominate this walk in a number of ways. So I would recommend looking up a tide chart and planning ahead. Starting very early may be your best option on some days. For our 4 days low tides occurred during the middle of the day. This allowed us to be walking on the hardened sand left behind after the high tide receded. With some of the beaches being up to 10km long this is a major factor in enjoying the walk. We had a couple of sections where this was not possible and it made the walking a lot more difficult. Yuraygir Walking Experiences can provide good advice. Day 1. Having got yourself to Mara Creek (a 10 min drive from Yamba) you commence a memorable days walk down to Brooms Head. You are mostly in the dune forests behind the beaches so you get to enjoy a different perspective of this area. Watch out for the wildflowers in spring. Mud can be a problem in the early section, mostly as a result of the recent fires then rain. An interesting an enjoyable day. There is a shop here in Brooms Head but it wasn't open when we arrived. All along this track you are walking through a backwater and shops seem to open and close at the owners discretion. Day 2. This day can be a slog. 18km of beach to cover plus a few extra kms of track/road. But the beautiful hamlet of Sandon and its river crossing is a nice break in the middle. Make sure you book your river crossing by boat. Over the other side be watchful to look for small the track signs, otherwise you end up a lemming, walking up to the top of the headland and nowhere to go other than down. The next section is a long beach walk that also doubles as the "road" into Sandon, so be on your guard for the many 4wds that will pass you. Your arrival in Minnie Water is welcome after a long day. There is a shop here and we were told it was more reliable. And yes, it was open. It does close at 4pm though. Day 3 is the shortest day. Some beach walking and some coastal forest walking. A very nice mix today. But Wooli beach can be particularly soft and hard going so try to time your walk carefully to catch the low tide. You end up in Wooli which is the biggest settlement on the track. Here there is a shop, café and even a pub. The pub seems to be the most reliable but it is a couple of kms up the road next to the River Lodges where I recommend you stay. Day 4 of the walk can be challenging but it should not put you off enjoying one of the best days on this walk. You must come prepared for this day. Wear swimmers underneath and have some means of floating your pack across the river whilst you swim with it. After you take the pre-booked boat across the river you are in a world of your own. The area is isolated so you have it to yourselves. You stay on the small beaches and rock platforms for the next 5 km. It is not all plain sailing as you must traverse a couple of areas where the only way ahead is to rock scramble along the bottom of some small headlands with the waves crashing in not too far away. My group found it relatively easy with many sections naturally eroded to provide some nice steps to assist. The key point is to take your time and watch where you put your feet. In some places there was a footpad just above the rocks which you could walk. We used them at times but generally tackled the rocks. Warning - if the tide is high and/or the swell is large this section can be potentially very dangerous. So get local advice. Properly planned it is very safe. As you once again hit the beaches you will find that the wildflowers in this section can be very beautiful in spring. On reaching Station Creek you must wade across. If you are within a couple of hours of low tide it should only be knee to thigh deep. If there has been a lot of rain or with a high tide you may be carrying your pack above your head. The location is absolutely beautiful (apart from the 4wds crossing the creek nearby) so you barely worry about the inconvenience of having to take your boots off. An hours walk down the beach brings you to the final river crossing and the end of the walk. There used to be a boat service to take you across but we enjoyed the challenge of having to do it ourselves. You should time the crossing to be as close to low tide as possible. On reaching the river mouth strip down to your swimmers. Turn right and walk/wade across to the island in the middle of the river. It is sand all the way. We were advised to cross the main channel at the point opposite the boat ramp. It is about 50 metres across at low tide with about 15 metres of that too deep to wade in. So you swim. Using garbage bags or a dry bag to put your pack/boots in makes a good flotation device The river conditions do change so please get local advice before you tackle it. You have now finished the official Yuraygir walk. There is a shop in the Caravan park which should be open for a celebratory coffee. But for those you are really keen you can keep on walking south along the Solitary Islands Coastal walk. But that is another journey.

We were staying at Brooms Head and went adventuring into the Yuraygir National Park. We went down to Sandon beside the river. We were going to try our luck fishing but it was very windy so just went for a walk. The campground was quite packed with people fishing, surfing and kayaking. We also drove up to Red Cliffs and Lake Arragan, which is a beautiful area with great campsites close to the beach. Loved the incredible Red Cliffs which were a geological marvel. It had a seam of coal , then shale and topped off with igneous rocks. The rocks around the base were conglomerate, just great. Unfortunately we visited while the major search was going on for an elderly lady who had gone missing. So sad !