Start with the hard climb to Cape Hawke Lookout then follow the steep trail down to McBrides Beach.

I’ll admit it now and get it out of the way, my fitness peaked somewhere back in my Step Reebok era. These days I make it up Cape Hawke just fine, I just budget for a few well timed puffing stops along the way and pretend I’m admiring the view rather than catching my breath. Nobody needs to know the difference.

That’s the thing I love about this trio of walks in Booti Booti National Park. They sit right on Forster’s doorstep, yet within a few hundred metres of the car you’d swear you’d left civilisation behind entirely.

Booti Booti means plenty of honey in the Gathang language, and this stretch of Worimi country delivers exactly that kind of quiet abundance, if you know where to look.

You can tackle these three walks separately, as a duo, or string them all together if you’re fit and keen. My tip, start at the highest point and work your way down, your knees will thank you later. Do note the practicalities before you set off, NPWS entry fees apply, there’s no 4WD access, camping isn’t permitted, and dogs need to stay home since this is national park land. Standard bush etiquette applies too, leave it exactly as you found it.

Cape Hawke lookout

Don’t let the 500 metres fool you. Every one of those metres runs uphill, through thick undergrowth on a winding gravel path, 420 steps in total, climbing 70 metres to the base of Cape Hawke Lookout. Moderate is the official grading, and I’d agree, though I was grateful for every rest bench along the way. Give yourself 15 to 20 minutes each way and don’t rush it.

At the base you’ll find a stone marker noting the day Captain Cook named the cape back in 1770, though the Worimi people had already long known it as Toocaloo. Push on up the last stairs, another 8 metres, and you’ll land at 224 metres above sea level with views stretching in every direction.

The regrowth trims the view back a touch more each year, but on a clear day you’ll still catch Burgess Beach and One Mile Beach glittering to the north, and Forster’s leafy streets giving way to Tuncurry’s Nine Mile Beach all the way to Black Head.

That’s North Brother standing sentinel near Laurieton in the distance. Turn to the northwest and Wallis Lake spreads out below, islands and inlets catching the light, with Barrington Tops rising along the horizon.

It’s the whole Barrington Coast story in a single glance, mountains to sea.

McBrides Beach

Here’s the thing nobody tells you, McBrides Beach is completely invisible from both the lookout and the main carpark. My advice, shift your car down to the separate carpark at the McBrides Beach Walking Track entry point instead, it saves a few hundred unnecessary metres of climbing later.

The 4WD track closed years ago, so you’ll no longer have vehicle fumes wafting past. The walk down is honest work, 600 metres, steep in sections and slippery when the leaf litter’s damp, graded NPWS Grade 3 for good reason.

Allow half an hour each way. You’ll wind through dense undergrowth beneath towering trees, cross a couple of trickling creek gullies, then break out into sunshine near a small lagoon fed by the creek, assuming there’s been decent rain lately.

This is the spot if you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to wash up somewhere forgotten. Rocky coastline hems you in to the south, an impenetrable headland blocks the north, and thick coastal rainforest crowds in above sand that looks like nobody’s ever set foot on it, right up until you do.

Pack your own water and something for a picnic, take a swim, and just sit with how wild it feels for somewhere so close to town.

Burgess Beach link track

Graded moderate, NPWS Grade 2, this one runs about 1.5 kilometres across the ridgeline of Booti Booti National Park before dropping down to Burgess Road at Burgess Beach. Budget a good 30 minutes. If you’ve left the car back at Cape Hawke, you’ll need a lift or a walk back uphill the whole way, worth knowing before you commit.

Booti Booti National Park carries a genuinely healthy population of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, so watch your footing, you might cross paths with a basking red belly, brown snake or the occasional harmless diamond python sunning itself on the track.

Push through to the end and you’re rewarded with a swim at Burgess Beach, rock pools that shift with every tide and sandy coves that make a solid case for this being one of the prettiest beaches on the whole Barrington Coast.

Three walks, three very different moods, and not one of them more than a few minutes from town. That’s the trick of this place, it hides its wildest side right where you’d least expect to find it.