The Hawkesbury region boasts beautiful world heritage locations, majestic rivers, scenic rural vistas and more National Parks and open parklands than any other part of Sydney. The area is surrounded by four gigantic parks - the Blue Mountains National Park to the west, Yengo and Dharug National Parks to the north and the mighty Wollemi National Park to the north-west. We’re also lucky to have some beautiful and quiet parks, stunning lookouts and reserves for our residents and visitors to enjoy.

Many people head up into the Blue Mountains to go hiking but we think the bushwalks around here are just as good. We actually think they are even better because the crowds all keep heading uphill, meaning our walks are therefore often much quieter and more untouched.

Our favourite bushwalks in the area can be found in our guides Best Bushwalks Around the Hawkesbury - Volumes 1 & 2 (RRP $6 each). These popular guides have been written by a local with over 30 years of bushwalking experience in Australia and overseas.  The walks included range in distance and are suitable for walkers from beginners to experts. The guides are available from the Hawkesbury Visitor Information Centre (open 7 days 9am to 4pm). There are 23 walks combined in the guides, so for around 50cents a walk, you’ll have plenty of reasons to come back to explore, time after time.  The Visitor Centre also has the whole local range of Topographic maps available for sale for those who prefer to know exactly where they are in the world. Check out our Getting your daypack in shape article for some more hiking preparedness suggestions.

We’ve found that many visitors from Greater Sydney keep returning to the Hawkesbury because it is so convenient for a day trip, those wanting to spend even more time in region or just that little bit further away can easily extend their visit by staying at one of our handy accommodation options. Whether it be a hotel, farm stay, campgrounds, holiday house or cabin you’ll find it listed on the Stay page of the Discover the Hawkesbury website.

It’s not only our bushwalks, here there’s lots of opportunities to get active, relax, take pictures, or just sit back and watch and listen to the wildlife. Many of our larger parks have barbecue and picnic facilities, making them perfect for gatherings with family and friends. For the kids we’ve got playgrounds and easy bike tracks to explore.

You can find out more about our Parklands in the Love Your Hawkesbury Parklands flyer.