Canyoners Ken Eastwood (rear) and Vanessa Simmonds take on Rocky Creek Canyon, towards the south of the park. The route starts with several dimly lit swims and climb-downs, followed by a waterslide.

Sunset at Mystery Mountain found in Newnes, Wolgan Valley. A steep four-hour return walk to the 370m peak is rewarded with a stunning view over Newnes and the surrounding wilderness.

A spectacular view of Wollemi National Park’s cliffs and gorges from a sandstone overhang. The park is a thriving, 5000sq.km tilted tangle of sandstone, water, basalt, scrub and thick forest, stretching from the Blue Mountains, due west of Sydney, to the Hunter Valley, more than 100km to the north. Find the full story in the Mar/April issue (AG 119) of Australian Geographic.

Wattle and gums at Newnes in the Wolgan Valley. Wollemi holds more than 40 rare plant species, one-third of which are found only in the park, ­including a red-flowering tea-tree discovered near the Colo River.

Dusk at the Headlands in the lower Wolgan Valley. Wollemi National Park holds the largest wilderness area on east Australia’s mainland, the largest contiguous forest, and it contains the largest unrecorded area of Aboriginal art.

NPWS ranger Neil Stone and writer Ken Eastwood collecting samples at a brush-tailed rock-wallaby site in the lower Wolgan Valley, Wollemi National Park. Find the full story about Wollemi National Park in the Mar/April issue (AG 119) of Australian Geographic.

Ironstone formations. These ‘pagoda’ formations are created when ironstone plates occur in sandstone: as the sandstone is weathered away, ironstone is all that is left.

In 1994, the botanical finds of the century was made in the park. The 30m-high Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis), a 150-million-year-old relic of ancient Gondwana known only from fossils, was found growing in a grove in one secret canyon. A couple of other groves of the pine have since been found in the national park and security cameras and warning signs deep in the bush help to protect them.

Wollemi has proved a safe retreat for an estimated 160 brush-tailed
rock-wallabies, such as this one in the Lower Wolgan Valley. This marsupial is under threat from habitat loss and introduced predators.

A brightly hued masked devil cicada (Cyclochila australasiae) on charred backburn, following the State Mine Gully fire in late October 2013.

The inside of a disused coke oven, with an unusual beehive-shaped kiln, at the Newnes industrial ruins. This site is all that’s left of an industrial complex – once Australia’s the largest shale oil production site – which ceased operating in 1937. Ruins here include more than 90 coke ovens, paraffin sheds, oil washing tanks a distillation area and an old railway line.

Bushwalker and photographer Ian Brown takes in the view above the Wolgan River, Wollemi National Park.

Wollemi mint bush (Prostanthera cryptandroides) is a low-spreading shrub with a pleasant aroma and lilac blooms, which typically flowers between September and May.

Glow Worms and walkers at the Glow Worm Tunnel, one of two now abandoned tunnels on the Newnes Historic Railway. This tunnel curves around sharply and often has a small creek flowing through it. The conditions are suited to glow worms which are found on the walls and roof.

View north over the pagodas at Capertee Valley, Wollemi National Park.

A remote area fire-fighting (RAFT) crew landing at Bungleboori following the State Mine Gully bushfire in late October 2013.

New South Wales Parks and Wildlife Service contractor Stirling Wardell sets bait for foxes and dogs in the Wolgan Valley.