Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Ku-ring-gai Chase was gazetted in 1894, making it the second oldest national park in New South Wales after the Royal. It covers 15,000 hectares on the northern fringe of Sydney where the sandstone plateau drops sharply into the drowned river valleys of Cowan Water, Pittwater and Broken Bay. The park sits on Guringai country and contains more than 800 recorded Aboriginal sites, including rock engravings, middens, cave paintings and axe-grinding grooves.

The Basin Track leads from West Head Road down to a sheltered harbour beach that is the most popular swimming and camping spot in the park. The America Bay walk ends at a small waterfall trickling into a sandstone overhang above the Hawkesbury. The Resolute Track connects West Head to Cowan Creek and passes some of the best-preserved rock engravings, showing whales, fish and human figures incised into flat sandstone platforms.

West Head Lookout is the signature viewpoint, sitting at the end of a sealed road with panoramic views over Pittwater, Barrenjoey Headland, Lion Island and the Hawkesbury estuary. It is the best free lookout in the greater Sydney region and is stunning at sunset.

The park is a popular kayaking destination. Cowan Creek and the Coal and Candle Creek arms are sheltered, tidal waterways that are navigable by kayak year-round and give access to sandy coves that cannot be reached by foot.