Our day began with an excellent coffee from lovely retro Qi cafe in Kew, before we headed out on Batar Creek Road, turning into Middle Brother National Park on Stoney Creek Road at the “Bird Tree 12km” sign. But you could just as easily start from Middle Brother Road off the Pacific Highway.
Our route visits Old Lookout and Devils Hole Lookout, both of which have views of North Brother and Watson Taylors Lake toward the ocean. Then climb through subtropical forest with tree ferns and bangalow palms to the 558m summit, where there is a paragliding ramp and an expansive view toward South Brother and Crowdy Head.
Stop along the way for a short walk to admire the large blackbutt trees, Bird Tree and Benaroon. Middle Brother was heavily logged before the National Park was created. An old wooden bridge crosses pretty Stony Creek. There are also some longer informal walking tracks in the Park, if you have more time.
Middle Brother is the largest of the brothers. You can climb North Brother on the Laurieton Track, but South Brother is private property. The landmark “Brothers” were named by Captain Cook as he sailed by in 1770. Local aboriginal stories also tell of three brothers.
Middle Brother, like much of the Port Macquarie area, was hit hard by floods in 2021 and 2022. Check the NPWS website as the Park roads required 4WD when we visited. A large landslip had closed part of Grey Gum Road.
