Deua National Park captures the transition of wild forested mountains, between the tablelands and the coast.

This nominated wilderness of old forests is an intriguing landscape. The rounded domes of the Mountains of the Moon contrast the vicious craggy spikes of the stony sharp ridges that look down upon the Deua River.

The rivers begin high on the tablelands as freezing trickles among the dwarf casuarinas, and through snow and manna gums draped with long ribbons of shedding bark. They cross the tableland, tumbling into little gullies, or giant gorges.

These gullies are where the pinkwood - or plumwood - trees grow. Sprouting in the rough fibrous trunks of tree ferns, these wonderful trees are the southern equivalent of northern New South Wales' Antarctic Beech. They are entrenched in the Gondwanic floras, the ancestral land of Australia's plants. They live in these gullies with ferns, coachwoods and sassafras.

Magnificent river oaks droop over the rivers, brushing the waters with their branches. River sands crunch underfoot, and rounded stones cobble the river beds.

From the lookouts, or from almost any peak or hill within this wilderness, the brilliant clarity of mountain after mountain may be witnessed with Mother Woila, Bendethera Mountain, Big Badja and Mount Donovan dominating the horizon.

At Bendethera you can camp among history. Bendethera was a goldrush site, carved out of the limestone and quartz of the wilderness. Today, only traces of that history remain, reclaimed by the forest. Nearby, the limestone caves of Bendethera brim with the yellow blooms of the Bendethera wattle, confined to this area. The landscape is abrupt, but breathtaking.

On the flats, the Deua side camping area is less dramatic. It concentrates on the river. Here, the waters are mostly meandering, but after heavy rain it rages brown, swollen with sediments.

Platypus, wallabies, goannas, and on the high plains, wombats reside in this wild country.

The park is 81,736 hectares in size, and facilities include :

Barbecues
Swimming
Camping
Toilets
Picnic Area
Walking Tracks

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