Mighty Morton National Park, NSW
Morton NP’s entire length runs along part of NSW’s eastern highlands, starting roughly 100km south-west of Sydney and ending at its spectacular steep southern extremity, about 80km east of Canberra. It’s the fifth-largest national park in NSW. Like many others in this part of the state, it is defined by a sandstone-derived landscape of steep outcrops and nutrient-poor soil, which supports hardy eucalypt forest and shrubby, biodiverse vegetation on its plateau tops. Stretching across the winding waterways and rapid runs of the Shoalhaven River, Morton includes spectacular waterfalls, glow-worm caves at Bundanoon and orchid-laced gorges in the Ettrema Wilderness. One of its most magnificent features is the jigsaw of jagged pagodas, mountains and mesas of the Monolith Valley in the northern Budawang Range. Reader the full story in AG#135, out now.