Nightcap National Park covers a large section of the ancient volcanic rim west of Byron Bay, protecting one of the most significant stands of subtropical rainforest in New South Wales. The park forms part of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area, and the trees here — Antarctic beech, coachwood, rosewood — give the forest an old-world quality that is quite different from the dry coastal scrub down at the beach.
The centrepiece is Minyon Falls, where a rainforest creek drops 100 metres over a basalt escarpment into a boulder-strewn gorge. There is a lookout at the top and a longer walk down into the gorge for those who want to reach the base. The park also has good camping at Rummery Park and walking tracks through the Mount Nardi section.
From Byron Bay, the most direct route is via Mullumbimby and Minyon Falls Road — allow about 70 minutes. The park is also accessible from Lismore via Dunoon.