Beowa National Park

Beowa National Park (until 2022, Ben Boyd National Park) is a national park in the Sapphire Coast region of southeastern New South Wales, and is the state's southernmost national park. The park contains two separate sections, the Pambula-Haycock area and the Green Cape area.

History
The park was established in 1971 covering 8,900 hectares and was initially named after Benjamin Boyd but has since been expanded to cover 10,486 hectares. Boyd was a wealthy pastoralist and businessman in the 1840s, with interests in shipping (including whaling), based in the South Coast. At the time, the area was part of the District of Port Phillip and Boyd was elected to the NSW Legislative Council for the electoral district of Port Phillip.

Boyd was the first in Australia to engage in blackbirding, a practice akin to slavery, when a ship he had commissioned brought 65 Melanesian labourers to Boyd Town in 1847. In the wake of the George Floyd protests around the world and in Australia and the Black Lives Matter movement gaining pace in May-June 2020, calls for the park to be renamed were it to be renewed. It was commented by the NSW Environment Minister that "national parks are about connecting people, not dividing them". The park was eventually renamed in September 2022 to Beowa National Park, with beowa meaning orca or killer whale in the Thaua language.

Boyd commissioned the construction of a sandstone tower overlooking the entrance to the harbour of Twofold Bay to alert whaling crews of the approach of their prey. The tower was never completed.

Landscape
The park is fairly flat, with none of the northern section exceeding 100 metres in elevation, and the southern section not much higher, with the tallest peak being Haycock Hill at 252 metres. Regardless, the park is very windy and cold.

Flora and fauna
There have been 12 species of birds which have been recorded in the park, with the heathlands being home to the eastern ground parrot and endangered eastern bristlebird. The little tern breeds in the sand dunes and beaches but they are threatened by recreational four-wheel driving. The park forms part of the Ulladulla to Merimbula Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for swift parrots.

Fifty species of mammal have been recorded. Pests recorded include cats and foxes, both which have covered the park, occasional feral dogs, and rabbits in previously cleared areas and picnic areas. Bitou bush is a problem weed north of the Pambula River.

Climate
The climate of Beowa National Park is very similar to that of Gippsland, and is cold almost all year around. It's never warm here, as it rarely goes above 25° in Beowa National Park, but it also never goes to the negatives either.

Get in
Like most national parks in New South Wales, Beowa National Park can only be accessed via car. Since the northern and southern sections are not connected, they have different entry points. To the northern section it's a 6 hour drive via the A1 Princes Highway and Haycock Road from Sydney, from Melbourne, it's a 7 hour drive via the A1 and Haycock Road, and a 3 hour drive from Canberra via the M23, A23, B23, B72, A1 and Haycock Road.

To the southern section, it's a:
 * 7 hour drive from Sydney via the A1 Princes Highway and Edrom Road
 * 6 hour drive from Melbourne via the A1 Princes Highway and Edrom Road
 * 4 hour drive from Canberra via the M23, A23, B23, B72, A1 and Edrom Road

To make things more complicated, parts of the northern section, north of the Pambula River, can only be accessed by the town Pambula Beach, however, access here is very easy, and much much easier than the rest of the park.

Fees and permits
The northern section (Pambula-Haycock) is free to access, however, the southern section (Green Cape) has a fee of $8 per vehicle.

Get around
There are two sections to this park and these are not connected. The only convenient way of getting between these sections is via car, which takes approx 30 minutes between the two sections.

Getting within the same section, generally, it's best to take the car out here, as walking will take you a long time, although do be aware that the roads in the northern section are not paved. In the southern section, only Edrom Road is paved, with all the other roads being unpaved.

Davidson Whaling Station Historical Site
This section is not actually part of the Beowa National Park, however, since park fees for the southern section of Beowa National Park apply to go to Davidson Whaling Station Historical Reserve, for merely practical purposes, it has been included in this page.

Diving
Beowa National Park is quite known for its dive sites, and particularly for its shipwrecks nearby. Some notable shipwrecks include the 135-m Empire Gladstone which got wrecked in the 1950s at Haycock Point. Twofold Bay also has some diving spots as well, which is more focused on the local fauna that live in the nearby waters. There's also nearby caves as well. Other shipwrecks include he Tasman Hauler and the Henry Bolte near Eden.

The only guided diving tours can be found with DiveEden. Bookings required.

Buy
Nothing to buy here.

Eat
There are no places to eat, and the nearest places where you can get your food is at Eden or Merimbula. Otherwise, bring your own food.

Drink
So, since there's no places to buy, nor eat, so its quite obvious that there's no places to drink as well. And... yep, no places to drink.

Sleep
The only places where you can rest your head is on the south side of the park. The north does not have any.

Backcountry
There aren't any backcountry camping sites in.

Stay safe
Wildlife is generally not a concern, but do be aware though that driving in the northern section after the rainy months of February to March may be difficult, so much, that it may be harder to go faster than.

Connect
Only Telstra has coverage in Ben Boyd National Park and its quite sketchy in the northern areas. The southern areas are worse than the northern areas, and large parts of the southern section don't have coverage at all. Optus and Vodafone don't have coverage at all outside of Eden and Pambula.

Go next

 * Either head down south to Mallacoota or head north to Merimbula.
 * SE Forest National Park is to the west, home to one of the last few patches of pristine wet rainforests in the region.