Evans Head

Evans Head is a peaceful, coastal fishing village located on the banks of the Evans River with a population of about 3000 people. It is an old-fashioned beach town surrounded by national parks, with 6 km of surfing beaches and pretty coastal scenery.

It’s the perfect location for an easy-going family holiday where the kids can swim in the river or at the shallow beaches along the river estuary.

This was the first commercial prawning port in Australia - there still good catches of school and king prawns today. The first European settler, Captain Thomas Paddon, named the river after the first lieutenant of his ship.

Things to do

• Enjoying the beach is the major pastime here for visitors. Serious surfers ride the swell around Goanna Headland while the main beach and river estuary are great for kids and other swimmers.
• Rock, beach and ocean fishing – there’s plenty of choice at Evans Head.
• Razorback Lookout?(Ocean Drive loop) -?Razorback Lookout offers quite magnificent panoramic views of the area. On a clear day the Cape Byron Lighthouse can be seen to the north.
• Broadwater National Park lies behind the coastline to the immediate north. You go via the Broadwater Road, there is a turnoff on the left into Gap Rd which leads (after 19 km) to Black Rocks Rest Area. The rest area has picnic and simple camping facilities, pit toilets, tables, barbecues, garbage pits but no fresh water. Those with a 4WD can continue south along Ten Mile Beach. There is also a great walking track around Salty Lagoon.
• Bundjalung National Park is a great palce to explore. If you cross the bridge and turn to your right, the dirt road leads to Gumma Garra Picnic Area on the banks of the Evans River in Bundjalung National Park which was named after the Bundjalung Aborigines who once occupied this land, leaving a number of middens to attest to that fact.?Bundjalung covers 17 000 hectares, including 38 km of beaches, and its ecosystems range from rainforest through heathland, coastal cypress stands, lagoons and wetlands to coastal plains. It is home to 205 bird, 30 mammal, 38 reptile and 13 amphibian species. However, the area to the south is inaccessible from Evans Head as an intervening section is used by the RAAF. You can also go canoeing along the pristine Esk river right in the heart of the park.