Distance: 9 kilometres return
Duration: 2.5 hours return
Best time to launch: 1.5 hours before high tide at Jerusalem Creek Entrance
Start/finish: Jerusalem Creek Pontoon, Black Rocks Trail, Esk – GPS: 29°14’44.4″S 153°22’02.2″E.
The address provided is what is shown in Google Maps but you might find it more useful to look for it at the end of The Gap Road in Bundjalung National Park. Overnight camping is available. National Park entry and camping fees apply. If you are uncomfortable launching from the pontoon, there is a small track to the water’s edge immediately to the left of the pontoon.
Parking: Gravel parking area near the entrance to the pontoon track.
Toilets: In the Black Rocks campground around 150 metres up the road from the pontoon parking area (in a northerly direction).
Route: Paddle to the right after launching. The early part of this trip is remarkable for the incredible shapes of the paperbark trees that overhang Jerusalem Creek and the way they are mirrored on its glassy surface. Other plants that thrive in this environment include banksias, hakeas, grass trees, flannel flowers, cabbage tree palms, orchids, and the endemic swamp mint-bush. The tide will dictate whether or not you can paddle all the way to Jerusalem Creek’s meeting with the ocean at Ten Mile Beach. If you can’t, make sure to walk instead. It is blessed with an impressive view of dark brown coffee rock formations that stretch down the coast and you might even catch sight of an endangered beach stone-curlew. After you return to the water, a visit to Secret Cove is highly recommended before you paddle back to the pontoon.
Safety note: If the ocean entrance to the creek is open, please don’t paddle too close to it unless you are proficient in handling ocean and surf conditions.