Guides and Trips
Trips
Millfield to Pokolbin Wineries from the Great North Walk
Millfield, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 10.8 miles
Walking | 10.8 miles
Although this trail is not officially part of the Australian 'Great North Walk', it is well worth doing. It is a spur running form the 'corner' of that fantastic bush-trail (where it turns south or west depending on whether you're walking from Newcastle or to it from Sydney). The good part of this trail - in addition to the great views from Mount Bright, is that it ends (north end) in the...
Crosslands to Jungo Rest Area on the Great North Walk
Pennant Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 9.3 miles
Hiking | 9.3 miles
Crosslands Park (33° 37′ 51″S, 151° 6′ 32″E) to the Jungo
Rest Area (33° 43′ 10″S, 151° 3′ 28″E) from MODERATE to HARD (with two vertical sections up metal ladder steps) (Nl>Sy) 16.0 km on a lovely part of the Great North Walk.
South from the picnic park in Crosslands Reserve
following Berowra Creek to Galston Gorge through Berowra Valley Recreational
Park. Up the ridge opposite Hornsby Heights (see Chapter 17 of GNW Companion); back down to...
Wakefield to Watagan Forest: Hard Climb on Great North Walk
Abernethy, New South Wales, Australia
13.2 miles
13.2 miles
From 2 km west
of the Watagan Forest campsite walking the rugged slopes of the Watagan
Mountains with views of the Hunter Valley. Down steep steps to Watagan Forest
Motel at Heaton Gap and then over the Sugarloaf Range ridge to Archery Road,
Wakefield. the climb from the motel to the top is TOUGH! Another way is by Hot-Air
Ballooning: offers a
different airborne view of the Watagan Mountains: Balloon Aloft (+61 2
4991 1955) or Hunter Valley Hot-Air Ballooning...
CedarBrush Downs to Somersby- Great North Walking
Somersby, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 20 miles
Hiking | 20 miles
Somersby (33° 21′ 29″S, 151° 17′ 23″E) to intersection of Beavens Point Road
& Brush Creek Road (33° 9′ 52″S, 151° 16′ 29″E). MODERATE (ends EASY) (Sy>Nl) 32.6 km.. Read the Great North Walk Companion as you hike this trail.
Day 1: North from the Somersby Store past the end of
Kilkenny Road over a creek and on to Ourimbah Creek Road as far as Tooheys Road.
After Stringy Bark Point campsite joining Tooheys Road South past...
COWAN TO CROSSLANDS: 14.1 km (moderate) - near the centre of the Great North Walk and central to the mystery.
Walking
west from Cowan station down a steep trail eventually coming to the Hawkesbury
River at Berowra Waters [A link track to the GNW takes you to Berowra and access to the railway line. In Berowra, there is accommodation at Berowra Village Tavern.] Then hiking south along Berowra Creek through the
relatively undisturbed bushland of Berowra Valley...
Congewai to Millfield: on Great North Walk
Millfield, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 6.4 miles
Walking | 6.4 miles
CONGEWAI ROAD
TO MILLFIELD: 10.3 km
(easy)
Starting at the Great
North Walk trackhead on Congewai Road walk north along Congewai Road beside
the Congewai Creek; past Ellalong Lagoon, through Paxton and on to Millfield.
[This is a spur and not part of the Great North Walk proper]. Read the history of the Ellalong Lagoon in the Great North Walk Companion. Discover links from here to the Big Foot & the Yetis.
Somersby to Staples Lookout: on the Great North Walk
Koolewong, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 17.5 miles
Hiking | 17.5 miles
SOMERSBY TO
STAPLES LOOKOUT: 28.2 km
(moderate to hard)
South from the
Somersby Store passing the spur to Somersby Falls (about 3 km) down to Mooney
Mooney Creek; following the river under the freeway and then over Mooney Mooney
Creek north of the northern tip of Native Dog Bay. Continuing south joining the
Girrakool–Patonga Walking Track, turning off the track to Wondabyne Station
(about 4 km), descending past the Kariong Brook Falls turning to Staples
Lookout on the Woy Woy Road....
Macquarie Park to Writers Walk: FINISH your Great North Walk HERE
The Rocks, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 0.2 miles
Walking | 0.2 miles
Walk
just a few hundred metres from Circular Quay inland to the Obelisk in Macquarie
Place. Macquarie’s
Obelisk is located in the oldest planned town square and urban park in
Australia: the tiny Macquarie Place on Bridge Street in central Sydney. It
marks the start of the Great North Walk
and is the oldest true obelisk on this journey dating to 1818. Built of locally
quarried white sandstone, this elongated pyramid has a geographical purpose: it
is the milestone for...
Warner's Bay to Wakefield on the Great North Walk
Killingworth, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 8.0 miles
Hiking | 8.0 miles
From Warners Bay continue around the tip of Lake Macquarie passing Speers Point and then crossing the historic Five islands Bridge (not the new one -- lookout for the old one -- named Watkin's Bridge). Walk into Teralba and continue over the railway bridge to begin transecting an area rich in coal mines -- old and new. This area was previously an orcharding region with old fruit trees still in evidence as...
Flat Rock to Yarramalong- Hiking the Great North Walk
Brush Creek, New South Wales, Australia
15.3 miles
15.3 miles
South from Flat
Rock Lookout crossing Watagan Creek, through pockets of rainforest and then up
through Olney State Forest’s stands of native timber; past a (2.2 km) spur up
Mt Warrawolong and on to the Basin Campsite. From the
campsite south along Cedar Brush Track to the trackhead to join Cedar Brush
Road as far as its intersection with Beavens Point Road 8km north of Yarramalong. Read about the red gold rush to harvest red cedar in this...
Thornleigh to Pymble: Celts on the Great North Walk
West Pymble, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 6.1 miles
Walking | 6.1 miles
Beginning
near the source of Berowra Creek at the Jungo Rest Area in Elouera Park,
Westleigh to walk south on suburban bush trails through Thornleigh and South
Turramurra, finishing in West Pymble. Look out for the Political Rock Cartoon at Conscript Pass: Lorna Track and Conscript Pass are now part
of the Great North Walk running from
Thornleigh Oval to the Lane Cove River. These walks were built during the Great
Depression of the 1930s as a means of...
Watagan Forest: Tough hiking on the Aussie Great North Walk
Wattagong, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 17.6 miles
Hiking | 17.6 miles
MODERATE to HARD (Sy>Nl) 28.3 km. Tough Great North Walking.
Flat Rock Lookout (33° 0′ 10″S, 151° 16′ 17″E) to Watagan Road (32° 58′ 5″S, 151°
23′ 41″E)
Day 1: From Flat Rock Lookout in the north west of the
Watagan Mountains along the Watagan Track through parts of the Corragare,
Heaton and Awaba State Forests with eucalypt woods and patches of rich
rainforest, following the Congewai Valley.
Day 2: Climbing from the valley floor to cross the...
Hawkesbury & Broken Bay: Discover The Great North Walk
Berowra, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 19.8 miles
Hiking | 19.8 miles
Best River Experience - South from Woy
Woy Bay to the coast of Broken Bay (Patonga) then west upstream on the
Hawkesbury to Brooklyn. Climbing up past Brooklyn Dam and on through
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, past Jerusalem Bay to Cowan station. [Plus
about 7.8 km by boat]. Pre-book your trip between Brooklyn and Patonga on the Dangar Ferry Service , opposite Hawkesbury River Marina, Brooklyn. Both en route on the Great North
Walk. Learn more about European discovery of this bay...
Murdering Gully to Warners Bay: Mysteries on the Great North Walk
Kahibah, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 7.0 miles
Walking | 7.0 miles
Passing from
Warners Bay and a few km of suburban woodland to Charlestown and then into
Kahibah where the track continues through Glenrock State recreation area
following Flaggy Creek to Pillapay-Kullaitaran (Glenrock Lagoon). The
Great North Walk Companion book highlights some mysteries that have occurred along The
Walk: there are more than a dozen murders, disappearances and inexplicable
deaths and all are worthy of further investigation. The first of these happened at Murdering (or Murmuring ) gully near Newcastle...
Ancient Art near Staples Lookout on Great North Walk
Kariong, New South Wales, Australia
Backpacking | 8.4 miles
Backpacking | 8.4 miles
The Darkinjung people have lived in the inland region
between Sydney and Newcastle, around and to the west of NSW’s Central Coast,
for more than ten thousand years. Their rich history can be witnessed in the
many rock carvings and engravings in Brisbane Water National Park. These
represent a distinctive style of Aboriginal engraving peculiar to art sites on
the Hawkesbury sandstone and unique in Australia. The flat, exposed areas of
this sandstone have provided an ideal environment...
Circular Quay, Sydney to Hunter's Hill: Sydney End of the Great North Walk
The Rocks, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 5.2 miles
Walking | 5.2 miles
Almost the START(or END) of Australia's most accessible bushwalk- the Great North Walk. Our ferry
leaves from Wharf 5 and takes just 17 minutes to complete its journey. As the
boat slides through Sydney’s magnificent harbour on a wonderfully sun-drenched
morning. Echoes of the First Fleet" In that June, on the 18th in fact, Governor
Phillip sent another exploration party to land on the south bank of the Lane
Cove River and see if a westward track could...
Mount Warrawolong: Highest Point on Great North Walk
Wattagong, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 1.3 miles
Hiking | 1.3 miles
The first Australians, the Aboriginal or indigenous
people, arrived in the north of Australia between 70,000 and 50,000 years ago.
They probably walked across a land bridge from what is now Indonesia or perhaps
came by canoe. Trade and cultural exchanges continued between these new
Australians and their ancestral families in the north for many generations.
Over time some indigenous people moved south, travelling across Australia’s
interior by what seemed to the Europeans who came much later to...
West Pymble to Hunters Hill on Great North Walk
Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 9.8 miles
Hiking | 9.8 miles
This section of the Aussie Great North Walk is particularly lovely - more a stroll than a hike -- so enjoy with your family. South from West Pymble (near Mars Creek confluence with Lane Cove River) to De Burgh’s Bridge; then alongside the river, past Fiddens Wharf and Lane Cove Park through the Fairyland Park near Delhi Road/M2 (at Mowbray); onwards down-river past Field of Mars and Buffalo Reserves and Boronia Park;...
Cherry Lane to Somersby Store on Great North Walk
Yarramalong, New South Wales, Australia
Hiking | 12.0 miles
Hiking | 12.0 miles
Beginning 3km south of Yarramalong at the intersection of Greta
Road and Cherry Lane. Walk along
Cherry Lane turning left onto footpath near it end to regain the Great North Walk proper. Trail leads past fields and then down into small deep gullies
to meet Toohey’s Road just at Milligans Range (campsite here). After about 2km on Toohey’s Road the
trail heads south (right) through woodland forest with deep gullies passing
Stringy Bark Point (campsite) where you...
Queen's Wharf to Glenrock: Start of the Great North Walk
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Walking | 3.9 miles
Walking | 3.9 miles
Officially Queen's Wharf Tower is the START of the Great North Walk. So, from the Queen’s
Wharf in central Newcastle, NSW, follow a well-signed path south through urban
Newcastle passing first the main railway station and then the cathedral. Climb Shepherd’s Hill (more in Chapter 3 of the Companion book) and view the
famous Newcastle ‘seafarers’ obelisk’ and ancient
drinking fountain. Follow
the coastal cliff catching glimpses of bird and human gliders before descending
to beach level to...
