Sydney Harbour National Park

Sydney Harbour National Park protects various islands and foreshore areas around one of the world's most famous harbours. It contains rare pockets of the bushland which was once common around Sydney, and in these remnants you'll find a surprising range of native animals living in the park.
Views of the majestic entrance to Sydney Harbour, natural bush, secluded sandy beaches, harbour islands and rugged sandstone cliffs can be experienced in this National Park, all in stark contrast of cosmopolitan Sydney which provides the backdrop.
But beyond the scenery, there's a lot of history, mystery and cultural heritage waiting to be discovered. You'll find buildings constructed with convict labour; historic maritime and military installations; and the Quarantine Station which used to protect Sydneysiders from infectious diseases. You'll also find many Aboriginal sites - signposts of an ancient cultural heritage that still lives on, despite the devastating impact of colonisation.

The park is in several sections surrounding Sydney Harbour, mainly strategic headlands, having been pieced together over a period of time as these headlands - once reserved for defence purposes - have been vacated by the military and reclaimed for public recreational use. All sections are serviced by public transport, making it the most accessible of the National Parks around Sydney, particularly to visitors.
The visitors centre for Sydney Harbour National Park is at Cadman's Cottage on the waterfront of Circular Quay near The Rocks and the Sydney Passenger Terminal. Brochures, maps, tours details and suggested itineraries are available free of charge.
Information: National Parks and Wildlife Services, Cadman's Cottage, 110 George Street, The Rocks, 02 9337 5511.

Garigal National Park

Natural rock bridge

Garigal National Park encompasses much of the remaining stands of natural bushland on Sydney's Upper North Shore, particularly those around Middle Harbour Creek and its tributaries. Vegetation varies throughout the park, from the heathlands of the eastern section with year round blooms of wildflowers, mangroves which grow alongside the middle section of the main walking track, to the more heavily forested areas of the south where tall Sydney redgums tower over leafy forest glades. Scribbly gums, thus named because of the patterns left by a burrowing insect, dominate the drier ridges, whilst wattles, tea-trees, boronia, wax flowers, grevillias and Banksias populate areas of poorer drainage.

Wildlife abounds - red wattlebirds, magpies, parrots, honeyeaters and wrens can be seen and heard throughout the park. Lyrebirds inhabit the damp gullies of the Cascades area of the park. Rarely seen, evidence of these shy birds may only be a stray but beautiful tail feather or their characteristic "pilik-pilik" call. Mimicry of other bird species is a specialty of the lyrebird. A walk in the heaths early in the morning is most rewarding. The walking tracks and fire trails of the northern section and the Cascades tracks of Davidson Park around and below the tidal limit of Bungaroo are easy to negotiate. These can be easily accessed from such localities as St Ives, Gordon, Belrose and Davidson.
Public transport: bus No. 582 from Gordon Station. Alight at Hunter Avenue, St. Ives. Or train to Gordon Station. Bus No. 582 to Acron Road, St Ives. Alight at Douglas Street. Enter park through Douglas Street entrance.

Bantry Bay
A sheltered bay which has remained somewhat isolated from the rest of the city, it has played a significant role in the story of human habitation in the Sydney region. To the Aborigines of the local Cammeraigal tribe, it was a popular feeding place, its waters teemed with fish and the surrounding bushland with food. At the top of the escarpment to the north of the bay is a flat rocky area with commanding views of the countryside in every direction. It was here that the wise men of the tribe recorded their tribal heritage and viewed the land to which they belonged.
UBD Map 176 Ref M 12.
Public transport: bus No.132 from Manly; 169 from Manly Wharf; 172, 173, E69, E72, from Wynyard. Alight on Wakehurst Parkway.

Bantry Bay Aboriginal Engravings Site
Though eroded by the elements in recent years, these are the most extensive single group of carvings in the Sydney metropolitan area. They can be accessed via the Engravings Track alongside Wakehurst Parkway. If approaching by car, park at the southern end of Bantry Bay Road and walk some 400m south down the track to reach the site. There are some 82 figures, including 2 mundoes (hand stencils), illustrations of people, animals, fish, shields, a canoe, a basket and bag, boomerangs, circles, stone axes and clubs, snakes and a whale. One group of figures shows two men, one of whom is carrying bark canoes. Other engravings occur in the surrounding bush land but they are not easy to find. They are not marked and many are buried under fallen leaves and other bush debris. Middens and rock shelters can be seen on the shores of the bay. Tool sharpening grooves have been found near the engravings and creek beds.
UBD Map 176 Ref M 12.

Stone wall ruins beside the Timbergetters Track

Bantry Bay: Old Bullock Track
When the first fleet of convict settlers arrived in 1788, the area to the north of Bantry Bay was the eastern perimeter of a wide belt of Blue Gum forest which stretched across the whole of the Upper North Shore from Crows Nest to Hornsby and from Castle Hill to Frenchs Forest. This forest was composed of big trees up to 50 metres high, the most common being the Sydney Blue Gum on the lower slopes and in valleys, and Blackbutt which occupied the ridges. Other trees included Angophora costata; Grey Ironbark; Turpentine and Forest Oak. Their timber was considered perfect building material for bridges, buildings and ships and a thriving timber-getting industry soon developed. Timber cut on the high ground of Frenchs Forest, Belrose and Allambie Heights was hauled by bullocks along a ridgetop track that would later become Bantry Bay Road and then down the hill to Bantry Bay where it would be floated downstream to Sydney. James French, a Crown Lands ranger and special constable, was given a grant of 200 acres in the area named after him (Frenchs Forest).
The Old Bullock Track and the Timbergetters Track nearby were used by French's workers to haul logs from the hilltop to the water's edge. Today they make for an interesting if somewhat arduous bushwalk. Though so overgrown and in places barely recognisable as tracks, they demonstrates how tough it must have been for the early pioneers who opened up the area.
UBD Map 196 Ref N 2.

Bantry Bay explosives magazine building

Bantry Bay Explosives Magazines
After the arrival of the white man, the bay was used for the storage of gunpowder. It was selected for this purpose because of its isolation from Sydney, its deepwater anchorages, its closeness to Sydney Heads and that its deep valley would deaden the effects of an explosion, should one occur.
The explosives magazines complex on the shores of Bantry Bay, which consists of explosive storage buildings, offices, wharves, seawalls, tramlines, a dam and landing stages, was built between 1911 and 1915. It replaced a series of hulks that used to be anchored in the bay for storing explosives. The twelve storage buildings of the complex, which were partially built into the hillside to deaden the effects of an explosion, have double brick walls and corrugated iron roofs designed to lift on impact. An even, moderate temperature in the magazines was created by the allowance of airspace between the concrete ceiling and roof of each magazine. A concrete dam was built above the complex to provide water to a hydrant and hosing system outside each magazine.
During its years of use, the complex functioned as a highly specialised and industrious port with a variety of barges, boats, tugs, trams and hand trolleys being utilised to transport the goods from the boats to the magazines. It was manned by a team of 16 to 18 people who wore special clothing to protect them in case of an explosion. The shift in the transportation of explosives by rail which began in the 1950s combined with falling revenues and the high expense of maintenance of the complex led to its closure in May 1974. The complex is today in the process of being restored to its original condition. Access to the buildings on the eastern shores is not permitted
Facilities: toilets, grassed area at the waterline.
Bantry Bay history
UBD Map 196 Ref M 1.

Lane Cove National Park

The peaceful bushland valley of the Lane Cove River, which passes through the North Shore's suburbs, making it within easy reach of the centre of Sydney.
Unlike surrounding areas where evidence of Aboriginal occupation has been obliterated by urban development, such sites in the park have been preserved. Midden heaps along the river recall feasts of the oysters, fish, crabs and waterfowl found in the estuaries, while the forests would have provided possum, kangaroos, bandicoots and other animals. Rock carvings of kangaroos, an echidna, animal tracks and human-like drawings can also be seen. The carving of a wombat and a sea-creature, as well as axe grinding grooves, can be found near the headwaters of Carters Creek. At the western edge of the park near Browns Waterhole there is a carved set of wallaby tracks.
The Park is the perfect place to get away from it all for a picnic, a bushwalk beside the river, hire a row boat or visit the Kukundi Wildlife Shelter. Swimming in the river is not advisable. Entry fee applies.
UBD Map 194 Ref L 7. Enter from Delhi Road, Lane Cove Road or Lady Game Drive.
Facilities: toilets, grassed areas, picnic and barbecue facilities, boat hire.

Blackbutt Creek

Fidden's Wharf
An historic section of Lane Cove National Park which recalls Joseph Fidden, who arrived in NSW in 1801 and established a timber cutting business at the end of Fiddens Wharf Road. Fidden lived here for 25 years, sawing and ferrying timber from the North Shore to Sydney. Convict Steps to the Old Government Sawing Establishment above Fidden's Wharf remain. Trails through the bushland up and downstream, which are part of the Great North Walk, allow bushwalking alongside a very picturesque section of the river.
UBD Map 194 Ref K 4. Fiddens Wharf Road, West Lindfield.
Facilities: toilets, playing fields, bush trails.
Public transport: train to Chatswood, bus No. 565, alight at terminus