📍5 Best National Parks Near Tenterfield, NSW, Within 150km For Hiking & Sightseeing. (2025.)
LOOKING FOR THE BEST NATIONAL PARKS NEAR TENTERFIELD?
One of the best things about Tenterfield is how outstanding the national parks are. That’s because the New England township is part of the famous Granite Belt region, where massive boulders lie strewn across the landscape, with the biggest and best sitting amongst, and sometimes atop of one Australia’s largest granite monoliths inside the untouched wilderness of Bald Rock with another enormous one sitting next door in Girraween.
But that’s just scratching the surface, because between all the other national parks near Tenterfield lies plenty more incredible terrain and granite outcrops fields to explore. From discovering even more outstanding boulder formations in Torrington to discovering the vastly different remote and riverine landscapes of Sundown and plunging, towering waterfalls in Main Range, there is no shortage of outstanding landscapes to explore for hikers, photographers, offroad enthusiasts and more.
👉 My top 3 picks for best Tenterfield National Parks:
- Bald Rock National Park.
- Girraweeen National Park.
- Torrington Conservation Park.
Best National Parks Near Tenterfield Within 50km.
1. Bald Rock National Park. – NSW.
Tenterfield’s hallmark attraction is Bald Rock National Park and for good reason. The namesake attraction is Australia’s largest exposed granite monolith and epitomizes the definition of natural grandeur. And the best thing about it isn’t just a visual feast of a landmark to lay your eyeballs upon.
It is also the grounds for an epic hike up its exposed rock face to its boulder-strewn summit. The trip there and back is only 3.2km but as it’s a grade 5 challenge, it’s not for the faint of heart. However, those who do tackle it are rewarded with magnificent uninterrupted panoramic views of the world around them!
The national park also has a few other walks that aren’t so physically strenuous and also showcase this landscape’s epic and unforgettable beauty. Little Bald Rock and Bald Rock Trig Lookouts are two more incredible locations that have outstanding views for days. Meanwhile, the Bald Rock Base Walk circumnavigates the big iconic landmark, allowing you to truly appreciate the scale and magnitude of the state’s most enormous single protruding granite rock mass.
- Distance From Tenterfield ToBald Rock Campground: 33km.
- Minimum Time To Traverse: 35 mins.
- Length Of Visit: 4 days.
- Where To Stay: Bald Rock Campground.
- Other Places To Visit En Route: Thunderbolts Hideout, WWII Tank Traps.
2. Girraween National Park. – QLD.
While Bald Rock National Park may have NSW’s largest granite monolith, that’s no reason not to head across the border and give Girraween National Park your time and attention, because this place doesn’t do epic landscapes lightly either. For starters, this world-class environment, has the formidable-looking Pyramid, a massive granite monolith that directly rivals its New South Wales neighbour, however, while it doesn’t beat it by sheer size and magnitude, it offers one hell of a hiking trail, where the view from climbing up it’s steep bare face to reach this behemoth’s round summit are just as magnificent, if not more.
On top of that, as if to overcompensate for not being bigger than Bald Rock National Park, Girraween also offers significantly more walking trails to many breathtaking landmarks such as the imposing Castle Rock, another unforgettable monolith showcasing incredible scenery, the Granite Arch and Turtle Rock & the Sphinx, three separate sets of iconic precariously stacked boulders along two trails, plus several trails that follow gorgeous creeks to stunning waterholes and mountain tops, some which you can combine to turn into an overnight hike.
Plus, there are some shared-use trails where you can hike or cycle on the eastern side of the national park, giving visitors plenty of unforgettable reasons to spend more than a few days here. Luckily, there are several rustic campgrounds to facilitate your outdoor adventurous spirit.
- Distance From Tenterfield To Castle Rock Camping Area: 40km.
- Minimum Time To Traverse: 35 mins.
- Length Of Visit: 5-6 days.
- Where To Stay: National Park Campgrounds.
- Other Places To Visit En Route: Ballandean Pyramid.
3. Boonoo Boonoo National Park. – NSW.
Adding to the impressive lineup of national parks dotting the landscape along the QLD/NSW border is Boonoo Boonoo National Park. But as it doesn’t have the acclaim that it’s two magnificent neighbours has, it’s the perfect destination for day trips from Tenterfield for those looking for quieter and off-the-beaten path experiences.
The park offers lovely short walks that lead to picturesque rocky creeks, which are ideal for wild swimming on those hot and humid days in spring and summer, while he beautiful Boonoo Boonoo Falls adds to the scenic variety of an already diverse region.
Or if you want to spend a quiet night under the stars by a campfire roasting marshmellows, the Cypress Pine Campground is perfect for that. And for searching for the lovely noctural animals that call this place home!
- Distance From Tenterfield To Cypress Pine Campground: 30km.
- Minimum Time To Traverse: 30 mins.
- Length Of Visit: 2 Days.
- Where To Stay: Cypress Pine Campground.
Best National Parks Within 100km.
4. Torrington State Conservation Park. – NSW.
For even more of the spectacular boulder-dotted landscapes this region is renowned for, Torrington Conservation Park west of Tenterfield is a phenomenal under-the-radar, off-the-beaten-path gem that nature lovers should definitely visit because while there are only 3 short walking trails all under 3km long, they are all incredible trails that lead to some unforgettable sights.
One highlight is Ugly Creek Falls, which is much more beautiful than its name implies. I was impressed with the cliff face and creek bed’s sharp right-angle raw edges because it is not something you often see in nature, unfortunately, there was next to water even though it was the middle of the rainy season, so timing it after heavy rain makes for a better experience.
Thunderbolt’s Lookout is even more incredible, thanks to its position atop a series of spectacular boulders that infamous bushranger Captain Thunderbolt is said to have used as a hideout that you have to awe-inspiringly walk through before climbing a near-vertical 5-metre ladder to reach. From the top, you’re rewarded with breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
The best one is the Mystery Face Trail, which features a rock formation resembling the side profile of an elderly man. It’s a cool feature, but I was most impressed with the Wellington Rocks, which consists of massive, towering boulders piled together to create a natural rock shelter you can explore, which is even more impressive than the one at Thunderbolt’s Lookout.
Not to mention, this trail is scenic from the moment go, with many unique boulders to walk on, through, and under, making it visually interesting and impactful from start to finish, so I highly recommend allowing more time than you would think to walk the circuit, especially if you are a photographer as there are so many interesting compositions and photo opportunities to enjoy here.
- Distance From Tenterfield To Blatheram Campground: 77km.
- Minimum Time To Traverse: 1hr 10min.
- Length Of Visit: 1-2 days.
- Where To Stay: Blatherham Falls Campground.
5. Sundown National Park. – QLD.
Just across The New England Highway in Queensland along the same general latitude as Girraween and Bald Rock, lies Sundown National Park. This remote and rugged place is not like those two famous monolith and boulder-strewn neighbours that give the Granite Belt its fame and allure. What makes this place so vastly different from what is seen at those places is that different geological processes occurred here, offering visitors even more variety of incredible landscapes to explore from its three entrances.
The Broadwater is the most accessible with roads being suitable for conventional 2WD. From there, you can take an easy 1km, grade 3 walk to the picturesque Permanent Waterhole, a lovely 5m deep lagoons along the Severn River, which goes through the entire national park, where wild swimming is a must. You can also kayak here if you’re willing to go that far carrying it, but there was no way I was going to as it’s a narrow pathway with numerous natural obstacles, soft edges, steep drops and stairs to contend with. Plus, I was by myself and would have needed to put it on wheels, which all just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
The Western Circuit is the only other formed hiking trail in this section, and is a lovely 4.5km grade 3 track that explores the western boundary and has gorgeous views looking back into the national park’s wilderness, and across to the vast plains and distant mountains of the landscape’s further inland. Plus, this walk had the most amount of kangaroos and wallabies I’ve ever come across, plus a few deer, (one even had antlers!), making it a great family-friendly adventure!
For more intrepid, confident and self-sufficient hikers who prefer to tackle the terrain without the guidance of formed trails, Sundown provides the perfect opportunities to go remote, exploring the terrain as if you’re the first to uncover the hidden gems it has within. From The Broadwater, you can explore Ooline Creek, the Severn River past the Permanent Waterhole, and even McAlister’s Creek. You can even camp overnight in the wilderness, or at the Broadwater campground.
For those with a 4WD, you can explore more of this fantastic national park near Tenterfield. The eastern entrance from Ballandean has 3 remote camping grounds and several trails to undertake from each of them. However, if you don’t have a high-clearance vehicle, you can still walk to the 14km to Red Rock Gorge either as a day trip or overnighter at the campground of the same name before heading back from the gate, which is 100% worth it as it’s one hell of a view!
Lastly, at the top end is Nunbuddermere Falls, a gorgeous rugged waterfalls that you can drive to in a conventional vehicle to the gate, then walk the last 500m to the campground, or just go the whole way with a 4WD drive, (but it doesn’t look that gnarly, so I think you could if you go over the big bumps slowly before heading down spectacular landmark on the Severn River. Be warned, though, the pathway down is steep and narrow and the path on the right (which goes to the namesake falls, not the two preceding ones, which are even more pretty.) the path disappears, and it’s a fairly rough descent.
- Distance From Tenterifle.d To Red Rock Gorge Camping Area: 54km.
- Minimum Time To Traverse: 50 mins.
- Length Of Visit: 4-7 days.
- Where To Stay: Conventional Vehicle Accessible. – Broadwater Camping Area.
4WD only accessible. – Red Rock Gorge Camping Area, Reedy Waterhole Camping Area, Burrows Waterhole Camping Area. - Other Places To Visit En Route: Ballandean Pyramid.
Conclusion: Best National Parks Near Tenterfield.
With the east coast’s largest granite monoliths sitting in side-by-side pristine environments on either side of the Queensland/NSW border, along with precariously stacked boulders sitting atop each other, plus several waterfalls and riverine landscapes, the national parks near Tenterfield offer an exceptional variety of terrains and environments that’ll appeal nature lovers of all kinds.
