WELCOME to issue 107 of Great Walks Magazine. 2023 marks our 16th year of showcasing the country’s best walking trails. And you won’t get a better workout for your mind, body and soul – guaranteed! Bushwalking is so powerful for our health and wellbeing that some doctors have begun prescribing it as an adjunct to other treatments for disease.
As one group of US researchers puts it, “The synergistic effect of physical activity and time spent in nature make hiking an ideal activity to increase overall health and wellness.”
All exercise is good for us. Whether it’s going to the gym and using a stationary bike or a treadmill, getting your heart rate up and working out your lungs keeps you feeling younger and stronger. But bushwalking involves something many other forms of exercise don’t: trails. That means it requires navigating in a world that’s not totally predictable. Steep tracks, uneven paths, overhanging branches, hidden obstacles, trailmarkers, even wild animals crossing your path – all of the things you might encounter on a bushwalk require micro and macro-adjustments to your route, which is good for your brain.
Exercise in general can be a great stressbuster. But what sets bushwalking is that it’s done in a natural setting. Bushwalking can happen almost anywhere and we have dozens of national parks within reach of every major Australian city. Research is clear on the benefits of being in nature while exercising. Studies have found that, compared to walking in a cityscape
or along a road, walking in green spaces helps us recover from “attention overload” – the mental fatigue that comes from living and working in a world where computers and mobile phones are a constant distraction. So

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