Garigal National Park


The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney central business district.
Split into three distinct sections, divided by natural geography, urban development and road infrastructure, the park comprises the valley of Middle Harbour Creek and its tributaries, the slopes along
the northern side of Middle Harbour as far as and part of the catchment of Narrabeen Lakes.
The park trails are popular with bushwalkers and mountain bike riders, particularly between and in an area known as Cascades after the Cascades Track that runs through the area. There are over 35 trails in the park covering 120km, including both authorised bushwalking and mountain-biking trails, and unofficial or unsanctioned tracks.

Etymology and indigenous heritage

The word Garigal is a derivation of the word Carigal or Caregal used to describe the indigenous people who lived in the area.
There is considerable evidence of past Aboriginal activity in the area, with over 100 Aboriginal sites recorded to date, including shelters, cave art, rock engravings, middens, grinding grooves and a possible stone arrangement.

Location

Much of the park is bounded by residential development along the ridge tops and it is easily accessible at numerous points by road and water. Several other conservation reserves and areas of bushland are adjacent or close by the Garigal National Park, including the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the Sydney Harbour National Park, the Manly Warringah War Memorial Park and a number of areas of Crown land and other reserves in Northern Beaches, Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby local government areas.
The national park is defined by the following boundaries
  • In the northeastern sectorTo the south of both the Mona Vale Road and the Waste Management Centre; as far east as, and the Narrabeen Lakes.
  • In the southwestern sectorAlong Middle Harbour and Middle Harbour Creek and bounded to the west by,,,, Belrose; bounded to the east by,, ; as far north as Mona Vale Road where it abuts the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
  • In the southeastern sectorSurrounding Bantry Bay between Killarney Heights and Forestville to the west; and Wakehurst Parkway and the Manly Dam Reserve to the east.

    Features

Fauna

A Dry Sclerophyll Forest, Garigal National Park is home to a wide range of fauna, including birds, snakes and a wide range of native mammals.
There is also a number of introduced pests, including rabbits and foxes.