The Forest & The Feast: Tweed Heads’ luscious national parks, volcanic mountain ranges and culinary scene
Luscious national parks, volcanic mountain ranges, a culinary scene that’s an Australian regional stand-out — ‘the Tweed’ goes about its business largely unnoticed. At least for now
“Totally private. Completely connected. Gondwana found.”
It might be the best summary you’ll read of the Tweed Valley and its coast. It’s also the real-estate blurb that encouraged Hollywood actor Zac Efron to purchase property here in late 2020.
In a totally non-stalker way, ROAM is casing Efron’s 128ha home-to-be, Glen Eden (“mountains, cliffs, lush rainforest, rich volcanic soils, rock waterfall, 25 minutes from Gold Coast beaches”), which is set deep in the extinct volcanic caldera behind NSW’s Tweed Heads. While Efron’s mate Chris Hemsworth made Byron Bay a little too well known, Tweed locals aren’t overly concerned about their notable blow-in — well, most Australians would struggle to locate the place anyway.
How the Tweed has remained Australia’s best-kept secret is curious. Here is a bountiful, vibrant and community-spirited pocket of wonder that nods to Hawaii’s Kauai given the pointy green volcanic mountains that tumble into the ocean. It’s real. And alluring. And yet the masses never quite land, passing en route to Byron and better-known coastal outposts.
ROAM. Landing in your inbox weekly.
A digital-first travel magazine. Premium itineraries and adventures, practical information and exclusive offers for the discerning traveller.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.What’s hiding between the Tweed’s mountains, dense fields of sugarcane and innumerable avocado trees is the “real” Northern Rivers — a place of beauty and brilliance, minus the crowds.
The Tweed is also one of the country’s premier food destinations. Forget cousin Byron and its two-hour dining limit, meals here last as long as they should, driven by impressive farm-to-table offers and slow-food philosophies.
Barely 20 minutes drive from Gold Coast Airport, though seemingly lost at the end of twisting, turning, narrow laneways, you’ll find the Northern Rivers’ most awarded dining destination.
Potager sits on a 4ha farm overlooking the southern Gold Coast beaches. Portuguese head chef Luis do Carmo holds a Michelin background, though today it’s the local produce that claims top billing. Beef lands straight from the owners’ cattle farm down the road, served with a native ginger dressing and charred chard picked from the outside garden. The catch of the day, dhufish, was swimming in the ocean just a day earlier.
ROAM’s bed for the night, Waterfall Lodge, lies just around the corner. There’s a private waterfall on site (you’d hope so) which can be seen from our bed, so too every seat on the veranda and further views over the Gondwana rainforest owned by Efron.
Honesty fruit stalls line the lush roadways round here. Homemade signs plead with drivers to slow down for the benefit of the local wildlife.
Farm & Co is one of many farms in the area, set on 21ha with a signature restaurant that looks out across brown, volcanic soils where sunflowers also bloom. Inside, a set three-course banquet menu is impressive value at $85 per person. Entrees include grilled local scallops and Byron Bay salumi, while the main course is a mix of smoked local lamb shoulder with curry leaf butter and a barramundi with herb salsa.
Pipit proves another culinary highlight, tucked around the corner in the sleepy town of Pottsville. It’s consistently held Good Food Guide hats since it opened in 2019. Cabarita’s No. 35 Kitchen And Bar is another stand-out, owner/head chef Daniel Medcalf making his mark at Bondi’s Icebergs Dining Room before moving up the coast, where he’s now known for a local snapper fish finger sandwich. Trust.
Tweed River House in Murwillumbah best epitomises the region’s neglected greatness. Having secured two hats in the 2026 Good Food Guide (the Tweed the most awarded region in NSW outside Sydney), ROAM takes a seat on the deck of the restored, century-old grand river house to absorb the “impossible” views out to Mt Warning (Wollumbin) — the plug, if you will, of the ancient volcano and which helped create the unique topography. Sitting above the slow-flowing Tweed River, we can only think that its regular flooding is what prevents this appealing art deco town — that also boasts the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre —from becoming the next Daylesford.
“I see the shock on people’s faces when they actually turn off the highway to Byron and see all this,” Tweed River House co-owner Gregory Lording states. Cuban-Canadian executive chef Dayron Perugorria oversees accessible menus (two courses from just $79), Ballina prawns with mussel, rhubarb and tarragon consommé and the local snapper with scampi and nduja proving stand-outs on ROAM’s run through.
Impressive regional walking trails and more serious hikes act to offset all this eating, from easy coastal wanders to the new, multi-day Gidjuum Gulganyi Walk covering Mt Jerusalem National Park, Nightcap National Park and Whian Whian State Conservation Area. Elsewhere, grab a bike to experience the Northern Rivers Rail Trail, the Tweed section covering 24km with bike hire (yes, you can choose electric) available in Mooball and Murwillumbah. Then there’s beaches, 37 kilometres of them - pristine and lacking in German fire-twirlers.
“There’s a unique soul to the Tweed that you just don’t feel in many places,” Lording adds. “And it actually shocks me people don’t know more about it.”
