The Botanists Walk

Distance: 120 metres 

Starts At: Sign to left of Main Path just past the Glasshouse 

The start point is 700 metres from the entrance along the Main Path.

Meandering amongst eastern Australian shrubs, trees and wildflowers this walk both recognises the Indigenous peoples of Australia as the first botanists of this ‘Great Southern Land’ as well as European born and descended botanists who collected, described and classified the bewildering variety of plants they encountered in Australia. Further details about the botanical knowledge of the local Gumbaynggirr people can be discovered on the Garlambirla Walk.

The Botanists Walk also commemorates the 1770 voyage of Captain James Cook along the east coast of Australia, with botanist Sir Joseph Banks. The Maritime Museum of Australia provided funding to help establish this discovery walk amongst some of the plants they studied and described. 

Signboards along the way tell the stories and discoveries of the botanists:  Sign 1: William Dampier, Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander; Sign 2: Robert Brown, George Bentham, Ferdinand von Mueller, Joseph Hooker; Sign 3. Jacques Labillardiere, Nicolas Baudin, Johann Preiss, Ludwig Leichhardt.

Special mention is also made of a local botanist Alex Floyd who has been instrumental in the development of a botanic garden in Coffs Harbour and to our understanding of plants in the north coast region, The walk also celebrates the work of contemporary botanists continuing to discover and describe the variety of plants in our region and around the country including Alan Craven, Elizabeth White, Gwen Harden and Beth Gott.