Garigal National Park

Garigal National Park is a national park in New South Wales (Australia), 20 km north of central Sydney. The park is somewhat disjointed but covers the following areas:

* Around Bantry Bay between the suburbs of Killarney Heights and Forestville to the West and Wakehurst Parkway (and Manly Dam Reserve) to the East.
* Along Middle Harbour and Middle Harbour Creek between (to the West) the suburbs of Killarney Heights, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, Davidson, Belrose and (to the East) the suburbs of East Lindfield, East Killara, St Ives, as far North as Mona Vale Road (where it abuts Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park).
* To the South of Mona Vale Road the Park runs as far East as the suburb of Elanora and Narrabeen Lagoon

There are trails in this park popular with bushwalkers and mountain bike riders, particularly between Belrose and St Ives in an area known as Cascades after the Cascades Track that runs through here. Others trails include the Heath Track and Bare Creek Track.

Name

The name Garigal is taken from the clan of the Ku-ring-gai aboriginal tribe that had lived in that area in times past. [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA19911115005]

Fauna

Garigal is home to a wide range of fauna, including birds, snakes and a wide range of native mammals (bandicoots, koalas, wallabies). [http://wildlifeatlas.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/wildlifeatlas/watlasSpecies.jsp]

There is also a number of introduced pests, including rabbits and foxes.

Fact sheet

*"Area:" 22 km². This makes it the largest National Park in suburban Sydney.
*"Coordinates": coord|33|42|21|S|151|14|11|E|type:landmark_region:AU
*"Date of establishment:" April 19, 1991
*"Managing authorities:" New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service
*"IUCN category:" II

ee also

* Protected areas of New South Wales (Australia)
* Bungaroo

External links

* [http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/parkContent/N0076?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0076&Type=xo National Parks page about Garigal]
* [http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/ParkContent/N0076?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0076&Type=INFO Garigal Park Home Page]
* [http://wildlifeatlas.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/wildlifeatlas/watlasSpecies.jsp List of fauna]
* [http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-and-hiking-in-nsw/garigal-national-park/ Detailed track notes and maps of most of the walks in Garigal NP]
* The Northern Beaches Mountain Biking Group ( [http://nobmob.com/ NoBMoB] ) have [http://nobmob.com/rides/cascades details of trails around Cascades]