Garigal National Park — Attraction in Sydney

A sweaty afternoon to a sweet little spot. We left home about 1 and made our way to the Douglas road end of the Cascades Fire Trail, for about a 2 pm start. It was dead easy to find and between the head of the trail, the road and the sports field there is plenty of free parking. We headed down the trail, it was an easy walk downhill, a reasonably steep grade but the track was smooth. Plenty of big shady trees overhead. The walk had lots of wild flowers and some cliff sides, but was unremarkable other than that. It was a warm humid November afternoon so apart from some loud Cicadas not much wildlife. The bush is well recovered from a fire a few seasons ago. The highlight is the lovely little waterhole in the creek at the actual cascade. There hadn't been significant recent rain so the two creeks were just trickling and the water was shallow with plenty of algae. But we had a dip and it was clean and cool. We saw a diamond python curled up on a warm rock, we didn't bother it and it didn't bother us. Like all snakes leave them alone and they will head off somewhere you aren't. Such a gorgeous snake though, my first diamond. The walk out was uphill and pretty warm, I suggest reserving some water and having some waiting in the car. Also doesn't hurt to wet a shirt, rashie or towel to provide some relief. On a cooler day or one with more recent rain this little spot may have gotten a five star review. Our boys are 8 and 12 and made it easily and loved the swim and building a little dam on the creek. All up our walking was approx 1 hour and probably 1.5 - 2 hrs...

Explore the scenery of Garigal National Park by bike, horse or canoe. It’s so close to Sydney making it perfect for a school excursion, and the opportunities for fishing, picnicking and bushwalking are limitless.

Immerse yourself in the natural beauty of Garigal National Park. Just a short drive from Sydney's CBD, its impressive sandstone country offers great water and bush views, waterfalls and several significant Aboriginal sites and historic places. It’s the ideal escape for a daytrip or picnic.

Garigal is home to a remarkable array of animals and plants, including the threatened southern brown bandicoot and protects thousands of years of heritage. You can retrace Governor Phillip's steps along the heritage walk to Bungaroo, where he camped for two nights on his first expedition in 1788.

Discover Garigal on foot along the extensive walking track system or ride your mountain bike on one of the challenging fire trails. The park is also great for boating, canoeing and fishing along tranquil Middle...

Nice park what we saw of it today, because a major walking track (Flat Rock) that takes you through the park has been closed for nearly 3 years. If you pay to visit this park ($8.00 a day for parking), then you'd expect to be able to use the walking tracks. There seemed no apparent reason to close this track. A check on the website after indicates it's closed for safety reasons because most of the track apparently passes through private property? The website states you should leave the early stages of the track and walk on suburban roads. I checked google and there is what appears to be an abandoned wreck of a house a long way from the track. Why would there be a safety issue in walking on a track so far from this wrecked house? Why is there even private property in a national park? Why do they not close the entire track as the majority is closed and stop advertising it? People drive all the way there and pay $8 expecting to...