Sometimes you feel like a walk on the beach, but other times you like to go somewhere where there are more trees, more birds and there’s more shade. But you don’t always want to make a daytrip out of it by driving to a National Park somewhere. At those times, the Coffs Creek Walk is ideal!

The Coffs Creek Walk is right in town but nicely hidden away between the trees, and I can guarantee you’ll feel far away from it all. It’s a real bushwalk through the forested fringes of Coffs Creek, with several boardwalk sections across wetland areas and mangroves.

The Coffs Creek Walk is a real bush walk right in the middle of Coffs

Reasons to do the Coffs Creek Walk – or sections of it:

• Beauty: It’s a pretty walk along the water
• Accessibility: It’s very close to the Coffs Harbour city centre as well as the Jetty area
• Flexible length: you can join or leave the track from many different points along the route
• Easy: It’s not strenuous as it’s all flat – no hills!
• Cool: If the sun is hot, you’ll be protected by the shade of the trees
• Places to rest: You’ll pass many benches to rest on plus several cafés where you can stop for a drink.

The Coffs Creek Walk is a circuit that takes you from the Coffs Harbour CBD to the mouth of Coffs Creek at the Jetty and back to the city centre along the other side of the creek.

The full circuit is about 9km, but really, the trail is as flexible as anything and you can make the walk as short or as long as you like. Since the Hogbin Drive bridge over Coffs Creek was completed early 2008, you can do a half circuit as well.

Of course, you can always just do little sections of the walk here and there, picking a 2km or 3km walk for instance. The most popular sections of the Creek Walk are between the CBD and the Promenade, and between the Promenade and the Pet Porpoise Pool at the Jetty (and vice versa).

Points of interest and places to stop along the way:

• Shops, cafés, restaurants at the Coffs Harbour CBD (one block away from the trail)
• Coffs Harbour Olympic Swimming Pool
• Coffs Harbour City Gallery
• Coffs Harbour Regional Botanic Garden
• Boutique shops and restaurants at The Promenade
• Great fishing spots
• Secluded benches and picnic areas
• Mangrove boardwalk
• Excellent swimming spots near the Orlando St road and railway bridge
• Pet Porpoise Pool & riverside café

Amazing panoramas over the Coffs Creek estuary at the coastal end of the walk

The northern side of the creek is officially a walking track only, but the southern side is a shared pedestrian/cycle path, so just watch out for bicycles when you’re walking.

You’ll come across beautiful vistas, especially when you see the sunlight reflecting in the water or can just make out the bends in the creek through the trees. The open parts around the creek’s wide and sandy estuary are equally stunning.

There are plenty of places to stop and rest, and you’ll hear all sorts of birds singing in the trees, no matter what time of day you’re there. If you’re really early, you may even cross paths with a koala or encounter other wildlife.

Best of all, it’s free, it’s healthy and you can end your walk with a nice refreshing swim in the creek or a cool drink at an al fresco café overlooking the water at The Promenade or the Pet Porpoise Pool!

To get an idea of the route and the distances, just look at the map that’s available on the Council website, which also has a PDF of the Coffs Creek Walk brochure that you can download.