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The place where the leaves touch the waters from the mountains to the sea, on the lower mid north coast of New South Wales.

Seven Mile Beach

Barrington Coast

ECO Certified Destination (Ecotourism) since 2025.

If you seek the road less travelled, you’ll find us. We stand on mountain peaks, wander through subtropical rainforests, roam remote beaches and take delight in the wonders of our region. This is your place, for the Barrington Coast belongs to the curious.

We’re famous for nature-based experiences that make our destination something really special. And these in turn will make you feel special… and possibly transformed too.

The Barrington Coast has 191km of pristine coastline, 58 national parks, nature reserves and conservation areas; 63 state forests; 8 designated Aboriginal Places and 38 rivers. At our highest point we have World Heritage protected Gondwana rainforest wilderness (Barrington Tops) with regular snowfall events… we’re the only location in the state where you can make a snowman and a sandcastle on the same day without leaving the destination. We also have the state’s largest coastal lake system (Myall Lakes National Park) that’s protected by the Ramsar Convention for wetlands of international importance. And we’re home to the state’s tallest single-drop waterfall (Ellenborough Falls) plus the only double delta system in Australia (Manning River).

All of this is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Great Dividing Range of New South Wales, in an area almost three times the size of metropolitan Sydney.

Our destination offers a true mountains-to-the-sea nature experience as visitors follow the flow of water, and is inspired by the Aboriginal description of our region: “The place where the leaves touch the waters, from the mountains to the sea.”

Our community

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and play, the Gathang-speaking people of the Worimi and Biripi.

You can explore some Worimi Country at Bulahdelah Mountain Aboriginal Place with walking tracks to lookouts through beautiful forest featuring carved trees that mark the cultural significance of this special place above Bulahdelah.

In Taree you can visit the Deep Water Shark Gallery that showcases a wide range of artworks including large paintings, clay and wood sculptures, jewellery, cards and gifts. The artists are three generations of family members, all proud Biripi Worimi people who are honoured to carry forward their culture and creations to visitors from across the world.

At Gloucester you can join a guided Aboriginal Culture tour in Copeland Tops State Conservation Area in the foothills of Barrington Tops. Exploring the hidden rainforest you’ll connect with this beautiful country as you listen to cultural stories from Aboriginal guides and uncover the huge variety of native plants that were utilised for food, shelter and medicinal purposes.

ECO Destination certified at ecotourism level

Sustainability

  1. Show Your Love signs in caravan parks: Signage encouraging visitors to minimise their water usage with four simple water-saving tips: Keep your shower to five minutes; Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth; Use the half-flush unless it’s a number two; Consider washing your boat after every second use.
  2. Smart water meters: Over 26 million litres have been saved since smart water meters were installed at 10 caravan parks, which help detect leaks by hourly digital readings transmitted to a central monitoring station. Meanwhile the first community-wide trial of smart meters in every residence has commenced in the village of Stroud Road. This allows households and tourist accommodation providers to track water usage via a smart phone app.
  3. Support for tourism businesses eco certification: Financial and business support is provided to local tourism operators to undertake Eco Business certification. In-kind support is also provided to operators already certified with featured promotions in campaigns and social media promotions. This wide-ranging assistance ensures the international best practice standards are being met and maintained by a growing cohort of tourism operators.
  4. Strive For Sustainability: Our Gloucester Visitor Information Centre achieved 95% on the Sustainability Scorecard on its first submission, joining the other 11 tourism businesses here who have gained their Sustainability Scorecard. This annual assessment covers their current performance across the four pillars of sustainability: Environmental impacts, Socio-economic impacts, Cultural impacts and Sustainable management.
  5. Koala Safe Spaces program: We have several koala hot spots and visitors are encouraged to use the simple online form to report koala sightings, to help better manage and conserve the species in the wild.
  6. Beach access improvement: A program to protect the environmental values of our 191km coastline including closing off illegal access, installing regulatory signage for 4WD, formalising access and exclusion fencing, and sand replenishment. Many of these works are funded by 4WD beach driving permits so our visitors are contributing.

    Eco travel tips

    Gloucester Tops Circuit
    Digital Maps and Brochures

    Refuse paper versions and download our brochures: scenic drives, walks through high altitude rainforest and coastal woodlands, waterfalls and cascades, and lookouts across endless greens.

    Surfer at Seven Mile Beach
    Keep it pristine

    Follow the principles of Leave No Trace and be conscious of the effects your presence has on plants, animals, other people and even entire ecosystems.

    Ellenborough Falls
    Be embraced by nature

    Here you’ll find world class wilderness and wetlands, extraordinary nature to appreciate, delicious fresh produce with low food miles and other sustainable tourism highlights.

    Awards & Recognition

    • Sustainable Tourism Accreditation managed by the Australian Tourism Industry Council.
    • Barrington Coast is one of only three destinations in Australia to make the global Top 100 Green Destinations 2024 list.
    • Barrington Coast nominated in the Green Destinations Story Awards 2025 in the category of Destination Management.
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2021 – Local Government Award for Tourism: Gold winner
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2022 – Local Government Award for Tourism: Gold winner
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2024 – Visitor Information Services: Silver winner
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2021 – Marketing Campaign: Silver winner
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2022 – Marketing Campaign: Gold winner
    • NSW Tourism Awards 2024 – Marketing Campaign: Silver winner
    • Australian Tourism Awards 2022 – Marketing Campaign: Silver winner
    • North Coast Tourism Awards 2024: Excellence in Tourism Services: Silver winner
    • NSW Top Tourism Town Awards 2023: Bulahdelah as Judge’s Commendation in Small Town category
    • NSW Top Tourism Town Awards 2024: Gloucester Bronze winner in Small Town category with Bulahdelah as Finalist
    Barrington Coast Logo

    State and Region Detail

    • NSW – North Coast

    Discover the region’s eco and sustainable experiences here:

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