After setting up our tent, I went for a late afternoon stroll through sub-alpine woodland, hanging old man’s beards, and spider webs. Clearly I was the first person on the Tea Tree Falls track that day. I guess the crowds favour the high visual impact of Eagles Nest or Wrights Lookout walks. Which is a pity, as this is a very soothing forest bathing walk.
Point Lookout forms a watershed – on the south the Styx rises and drains into the Macleay River, while to the north are the headwaters of the Guy Fawkes which drains into the Big River, the Clarence. And to the east is the Bellinger River headwaters.
This trail loosely follows the clear waters of Styx, with a small waterfall and rocky cascades. The vegetation is diverse – banksia, tall eucalypts, snow grass, sphagnum moss and of course tea tree. I continued past Tom’s Cabin all the way to the Lyrebird walk, where there is a tree fern forest.