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Hiking Safety
In mid 2026 Gill and I travelled to the NSW south coast after a four months hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. This was just as the first lockdown finished and we wanted to visit family who we hadn’t seen during this time. Normally we try to go for a hike on these visits, even if it’s a short one, so before our trip I spent a few hours mining the internet, checking the state of the numerous nearby National Parks, and what I found didn’t surprise me. Almost without exception, the National Parks on the coast road as we travelled north from Batemans Bay through to north of Ulladulla were we were visiting, were either fully or partially closed due to the impacts of the 2019-20 bushfires.
We spent much of the day driving along the coastline working our way northwards and stopping in to visit areas of the coast with which we were very familiar, at least before the fires. What we found as we passed matched the online advice from the NSW National Parks Service. There were barriers and signage across many access roads coming off the highway, preventing any access altogether, or where there were small communities adjacent to the burnt areas, there were signs advising ‘no access’.
The reasons for the closures at that time varied with the main ones being damaged roads or bridges, or dangerous trees. At that time the NSW Parks Service was left with such a massive work load that the work took a number of year to remedy. In the case of Canberra the Namadgi National Park wasn’t back to ‘normal’ for about 5 years.
At that time when we passed a ‘PARK CLOSED’ sign for Moreton National Park (NSW South Coast) as we turned off the highway on our way to my sister’s property. The next day we decided to drive further into the park to have a look at the damage and sure enough, we came across a very obvious park closure sign as we approached the park proper that included tape across the road. We stopped to take a photo of the closure signage and during this time two cars (not parks or emergency staff), drove around the closure tape and kept on going. In many cases the road closures are a hard close and pretty obvious but in most cases doesn’t stop people entering if they choose to ignore the closures.
The severity of the fires in some of the parks at that time had created a huge number of dangerous trees and entering areas that haven’t been made safe puts people at risk. This doesn’t just mean wayward hikers but potentially anyone who has to go in and rescue someone who gets into trouble, even when they are not supposed to be in there.
In addition to entering areas that had been deemed unsafe the other negative outcome may be a much unwanted fine for being in an area you aren’t supposed to be in. What it comes down to is the need to take an extra few minutes to check your destination for closures or warnings. While it may be inconvenient and even disappointing if the parks service says ‘closed’ they mean closed. They aren’t doing it for some petty reason; safety is the first priority.
Final Thoughts
While this example above occurred in 2020 and was some of the severest that we had seen, at least in that part of the coast it just highlights the need to do a bit of planning prior to going on any outdoor adventure. Are there closures in your destination site, either due to fire for storm damage, are they doing feral animal control, or are they doing major infrastructure work? Are there fire warnings in place for actual or potential bushfires?
All these closures may seem like an inconvenience but it’s all aimed at safety of the park users. This may mean that you need to revisit other parks in your local area but in doing so you may discover some hidden =gems that you didn’t even know existed, we did!
Of course, once we get can back into the ‘real stuff’, you’ll appreciate it all the more!
Park closure information available on the NSW Parks Service website. Always check before you head off just in case there are any closures.
NSW Parks Service closure sign (2020) at Moreton National Park on the NSW South Coast. There was another sign on the highway turnoff as well advising of this closure
Animal baiting sign. Many National Parks are using the post fire period to remedy other issues, in this case wild dog and fox control
Burnt eucalyptus regrowing post bushfires
Last Updated
7 June 2026