Paddling in Khappinghat National Park

Khappinghat National Park sits on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, near Taree, where the landscape runs from undeveloped wetlands through mangroves and into pockets of rainforest. The paddling here is entirely flatwater — tidal, estuarine, and quiet.

Khappinghat Creek is the water that defines paddling in the park. Canoeists and kayakers move through a sequence of environments that shifts from salt flats and sedge to mangrove corridors to rainforest fringe, all within a largely undeveloped setting.

The creek is calm enough that experience level matters less than it would on moving water, and the pace tends to be exploratory rather than driven. Being inside a national park shapes the experience in ways that go beyond the paddling itself.

The surrounding land remains undeveloped, which is a large part of what makes the creek worth paddling — there's no suburban edge creeping in.

NSW National Parks manages the area, and anyone planning to fish from the water should check current rules with the park before launching. Contact the Taree office on Hargreaves Drive for current conditions and any access requirements.

The creek near Taree is accessible, but the park's value is in what it keeps out. Come here for the stillness of a mangrove passage, not a workout.