- Deb Carr
Urunga Wetlands Walk NSW North Coast
Urunga Wetlands consists of a 450m scenic track around park and water, including a 150m boardwalk giving stunning views. I found this walk to be extremely relaxing and enjoyable with the beauty of the waterlilies and ponds breathtaking. The only irritation was those pesky mosquitoes, although I was prepared for that and had on some heavy duty repellant.
The Wetlands is situated at 1 Hillside Drive in Urunga.
Between 1969 and 1974 an antimony processing plant which processed ore extracted from the Wild Cattle Creek mine in Dorrigo operated resulting in waste and other toxic materials dumped on the site and into the surrounding wetland areas. You can imagine what this did to the ecology of the area! Read more on the history here and be prepared to try and understand how this was ever allowed to happen!
Now thank goodness, the NSW Government invested $10 million to remediate the site and turn it into community parkland.
36,000 tonnes of contaminated soils were treated at the site and placed in an onsite containment cell. Now the ecology is returning to normality and attracting beautiful water birds. The waterlilies are flourishing again and the park is a credit to the NSW Government.
It won't take you long to do the walk around the Wetlands but do put it on your 'to do' list if you are passing through or staying at Urunga. You may also want to visit the Urunga Boardwalk which is absolutely stunning.