Day Walks not too far from the Northern Beaches

[Erica]

Hi all,

I've recently moved to Collaroy and am looking for good day/half day walks in the area/not too far away. They don't have to be hardcore, just a good walk preferably with a view or nice forest or something... am pretty easily pleased.

Thanks,

Erica

[johnw]

Hi all,

I've recently moved to Collaroy and am looking for good day/half day walks in the area/not too far away. They don't have to be hardcore, just a good walk preferably with a view or nice forest or something... am pretty easily pleased.

Thanks,

Erica

Erica,
The closest walks to you would be in Garigal NP, some good options there. But as a suggestion get hold of the Ku-ring-gai Chase NP tourist map from a local camping store or the park office at Bobbin Head. It's a 1:40,000 topo listing most of the tracks in the general area. I suggest start exploring around the West Head section, which is reasonably close to you. I've done most of the tracks there at one time or other. None of them could be considered hardcore but are generally pleasant plods and usually end at a nice beach or overlooking a bay or some other view. Further west there are numerous other tracks worth investigating and I've also done most of those. That map also covers a reasonable chunk of the Great North Walk which can be broken into day and half day trips. Some of these can be a bit more challenging (i.e. strenuous because of steepness/altitude gain and loss) but still not hardcore (IMHO).

A really good online resource is http://www.wildwalks.com which has a quite powerful walk search facility. For example you can specify length/time/difficulty etc and distance from Collaroy. I quickly found 24 short walks in Garigal NP, all less than 10 km from Collaroy.

That should give you plenty to go on with for now

[Marwood]

Hi Erica,

I moved up to Pittwater at the start of the year and have found that there's definitely some great short walks in Ku-ring-gai NP, some that can be connected to overnighters or more on the Great North Walk (GNW). Probably my favorite day walk in the park so far has been the walk to Taffy's Rock via Jerusalem Bay. The turn-off to the Taffy's Rock track off the GNW track is a little tricky to find - it's behind a signboard at about -33.58324, 151.195823. Taffy's Rock is at -33.58504,+151.22798. Further info is in the NPA Bushwalks book, Volume 2.

Even closer to you is the Bicentennial Coastal Walkway, if you like beach walking. Haven't done this one yet apart from the walk up to Barrenjoey Head.

[johnw]

+ 1 for both the Taffys Rock suggestion and the NPA walks book link. Getting both of those books for 15 bucks would be one of the best bargains around.
I paid roughly $22 per volume about 12 years ago (previous editions). They will keep you occupied bushwalking for years.

The Cowan to Brooklyn walk (from which the Taffys Rock track leaves) is another good one. I did this in reverse about a month ago.

[Erica]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd borrowed those books off a friend before but bought them last week from the NPA website. Am looking forward to flicking though them and exploring!