Careys Peak via the Corker Track

Getting there

Follow Salisbury Road, from Dungog, taking care when the road turns left not to continue straight ahead to Chichester Dam. Follow this road all the way until it turns to dirt. At this point, there is a choice of three dirt roads that you can take. Take the road to the left. When it turns sharply to the left with an option to take another road straight ahead, keep going straight. This will take you to the Lagoon Pinch car park where the walk begins.

Maps

9133-1N Barrington Tops (1:25K)

Route/Trail notes

Begin the walk at the Lagoon Pinch Day Use area (no toilets, no water). The track ascends steeply, and remains mostly steep for about 5km. After this the track has more level areas as you get closer to the top. Once reaching the Link Track you can continue on an extra 2km to go to Carey's Peak by turning left and following the signs.

Permits/Costs

No cost

Other References

https://hikingtheworld.blog/2019/04/26/careys-peak-barrington-tops/

GPS Tracks

No GPS available for this walk yet.

Comments

Well people are correct in saying the first few kms are definitely the most soul destroying part of this walk. In saying that it isn't constant steep uphill, there are brief sections where it flattens out and you can catch your breath. After you reach the first little lookout where you can see Careys Peak in the distance for the first time, it does begin to get quite a bit easier. The whole walk is very well marked and signed, pretty surprised we saw so few people doing it on a Saturday when the nearby waterfall was jam packed with people. Overall I would say it was actually quite a bit easier than I was expecting, it was steep but not diabolically steep. The view at the top was fantastic, would do it again if I'm ever in the area!
Vonsnrub on 29 Jan, 2022

Hard climb - as noted by a previous hiker, signage is incorrect on all the signage. Corker Track is 8km and Careys Peak 10km.
Oliver Descoeudres on 26 Apr, 2019

The Corker up to Carey's can be easily be done as a day walk if you have a reasonable level of fitness. It took me 6hr 50min return, with a nice long break at Carey's Peak for a cooked lunch. Don't be discouraged by the first 2km straight out of the carpark, stick with it, it does get better! The terrain changes many times as you ascend up onto the plateau. Selby Alley hut is a nice short detour off the track. A great track that gets you up to the 'Tops' where The Corker links in with many other walking trails.
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TeamCookiemonster on 12 Apr, 2018

This walk wasn't as hard as we were expecting, maybe because we had read about it and were expecting it to be really hard. I don't want to underestimate it, because it is long and hard, though we're not sure it's actually 10km from bottom to top as the NPWS signs say. The Apple Watch tracked it at 8.15km which was a really nice surprise. We continued on to Carey's Peak, but there was no view due to cloud cover. In fact we walked much of the way in the clouds which was very pleasant. If you're in the area and have a reasonable fitness level we would very much recommend this walk.
Ian and Sue on 3 Jan, 2017