Coffs Harbour is famous for its great swimming and surf beaches but many visitors prefer to venture into the dramatic hinterland west of the town centre.
The Great Dividing Range practically meets the sea at Coffs Harbour and this geographical quirk makes four-wheel driving here spectacular. In the Coffs hinterland you can travel off-road through rainforests, past sparkling creeks and cascading waterfalls and catch some breathtaking valley and ocean views while you're at it.
Dorrigo is probably the area's best known national park, but it's more for on-road driving and walking tracks. Off-road driving is banned in the park, but don't worry, there are plenty of adventurous alternatives nearby.
Experienced four-wheel drivers can pick up a brochure from the Coffs Harbour Visitors Centre or the State Forest office to take their vehicle into the area's state forests and national parks.
It's the ideal opportunity to introduce your town-based 4WD to the terrain it was actually built for. Try an organised trip with a tag-tour for starters. Two companies that specialise in taking novice off-road drivers out into the wilderness - Mountain Trails 4WD Tours and Getaway 4WD Tours - are both based in Coffs Harbour.
Your four-wheel drive should have low range gears and reasonable ground clearance to tag along in the bush as small fallen trees often block trails and stream crossings are unavoidable. That said, Mountain Trails does take 'softer' four-wheel drives like Toyota's RAV4 and Subaru's Forester - on less rugged routes around the hinterland.
These companies provide CB radios so you can stay in touch and get advice when it's time to perform tricky manoeuvres. Kids love this as they're often in charge of the handset while the parents take the wheel.
Both companies also take individuals on tours, a good option for two-wheel-drive owners who want to experience the wilderness without involving the SES.
Getaway 4WD Tours concentrates its expeditions on the fire trails running through Orara East and Orara West State Forests past Bruxner Park to the west of Coffs. The trails are relatively easy to follow with a map but if you want to venture further into the bush, you'll need experience and some local knowledge on board.
Driving up to the state forests is a visual feast - you soon pass through the ordered banana and avocado plantations that line the coast and wind into the subtropical foothills of the Great Dividing Range.When you reach the forests you're thrown into rainforest jungle in the valleys while ancient eucalypts crown many of the higher points. In Orara some of the trees are between 500 to 1,000 years old.
Keep a look out for Strangler Figs that completely smother and kill the host tree which rots, leaving a hollow centre that's sometimes big enough to stand inside.
Waterfalls and rainforest creeks are great places to stop for a rest and a bite to eat. Locals say the prettiest spots are not marked on maps but are revealed on tag-tours.
Try scanning the trees and undergrowth as you drive to see some of the area's native wildlife. This includes the red-belly black snake, so watch carefully.
Gold mining started up in the Coffs hinterland in the early 1800s and you can see the remains of mines at the base of Mount Curamban. Beacon Hill mining village was once bigger than Coffs Harbour but nothing of the village remains apart from the mines. It's quite eerie standing at the mouth of a mine to look into the darkness, imagining it full of nugget-hungry prospectors.
Vertical and horizontal mine shafts riddle Beacon Hill making it a tricky place to navigate without advice - yet another reason why tours are a good idea.
Be warned that if you are travelling alone there are many dead ends in state forests - tracks carved by early cedar foresters. Also, keep a look out for splints of wood wedged into tree trunks - woodcutters used these to stand on to chop down nearby trees.
If you're an adventurous type and determined to venture off-road alone, Bindarri National Park, which joins the southern border of Orara West State Forest, is the place to explore. Call the Coffs Coast National Parks and Wildlife Office before setting off to find out about road conditions as the park is not accessible when it's wet.
Bindarri is a treasure trove of natural beauty. If you enter the park from the east you take a single track up a steep, hard 700-metre climb to a plateau where there are views down the coast.
Bangalore waterfall is easy to reach - you drive to the western side of the park and take a short walk through the bush to see the cascading waterfalls. Take your swimmers with you - the water is clear and refreshing on a hot day.
If you want to see more spectacular stepped falls and you're a keen, fit bushwalker you can follow Bangalore Creek down steep canyons to Urumbilum waterfall - one of the most dramatic falls in the area.
As with any off-road driving, maps, equipment and local knowledge is the key, but the reward is an experience which is definitely off the beaten track.
NSW National Parks can be closed at times of bushfire and bushfire danger. It is advisable to check with NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service before you set off. Either phone 1300 361 967 (within NSW) or (02) 9253 4600 or visit www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au.
If you have a CB Radio installed, tune it in to get the latest info from all the local drivers! Eric, Coffs Harbour.
Before four-wheel driving in the Coffs area make sure you have All-Terrain Tyres fitted. They'll reduce the chances of slipping or punctures. Ken, Mt Druitt.
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