Lane Cove National Park

Lane Cove National Park
New South Wales
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)

Lane Cove National Park
Nearest town or city Lane Cove
Coordinates 33°47′01″S 151°08′19″E / 33.78361°S 151.13861°E / -33.78361; 151.13861Coordinates: 33°47′01″S 151°08′19″E / 33.78361°S 151.13861°E / -33.78361; 151.13861
Established 1938 (1938)[1]
Area 3.72 km2 (1.4 sq mi)[1]
Managing authorities NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
Website Lane Cove National Park
See also Protected areas of
New South Wales

The Lane Cove National Park is a protected national park that is located within metropolitan Sydney, in New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 372-hectare (920-acre) national park is situated about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north-west of the Sydney central business district. The park consists of land near the banks of the Lane Cove River, which flows generally south-east into Sydney Harbour. It also extends to the outskirts of Pennant Hills and Wahroonga.

Features and location

The park includes areas of land which are part of Ku-ring-gai, Ryde, and Hornsby local government areas with small areas of the park in Willoughby, Lane Cove and Hunter's Hill local government areas on the banks of the lower reaches of the river. The park is surrounded on all sides by developed suburban areas and except for the upper northwestern region is never more than a kilometre wide. Much of the park is of fairly rugged terrain on the slopes of the river valley and covered by dense bush. The characteristics of the bush vary depending upon soils and topography. Parts of the park are affected by weed infestations.

The central section of the park, between De Burghs Bridge on Ryde Road and Fullers Bridge, was set aside as a park in the 1920s and developed with picnic areas interspersed in the bush along the banks of the river. The majority of these picnic areas are located between the Fuller's Road bridge and the road that leads towards the Tourist Park. North of this point the area becomes more rugged and there are no picnic areas until the Tunks Hill (previously known as Tunks Farm) area which is away from the river behind the garden nursery on Lane Cove Road.

A weir was constructed in the 1930s[1] near Fullers Bridge which converted the middle section of the river from tidal salt-water to a fresh-water area with constant water level suitable for recreational use in rowing boats and canoes. This area was managed by a trust and was called Lane Cove River Park. In 1982, the Government of New South Wales took over direct control of the park which was then called Lane Cove Regional Park. Various nearby areas of undeveloped government land near the river upstream and downstream from the central area including an area around Pennant Hills Park has also been added to the national park. It was then renamed Lane Cove National Park in 1992.[1]

A fish ladder has been constructed next to the weir to enable Australian bass to access the freshwater breeding grounds upstream of the weir. Fishing is allowed in parts of the Lane Cove River as per restrictions managed by NSW Department of Primary Industries.[2]

The Lane Cove National Park is popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists. The Lane Cove River Tourist Park, operated by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, is located within Lane Cove National Park.

The main walking track along the Lane Cove River forms part of the The Great North Walk from Sydney CBD to Newcastle. This track incorporates a number of old tracks that were, in many cases, old logging trails.

A rare mushroom Hygrocybe aurantipes was discovered in Lane Cove National Park in 1990.

Urban issues affecting the Park.

The parks position in the middle of a major metropolis necessitates compromises between the social desire for maintaining a pristine environment, and the need for urban development. Two examples of this compromise are:

  1. The M2 motorway crosses the National Park at Epping and is clearly visible for kilometers to bushwalkers traveling along Terry's Creek.
  2. In 2014 Sydney Water began rebuilding a 3.3 kilometre section of wastewater pipe located beside Terrys Creek, and running through bushland between Forrester Park, Eastwood and Browns Waterhole in the Lane Cove National Park, South Turramurra. This involved upgrading access tracks to the pipeline.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lane Cove National Park: Plan of Management" (PDF). NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (PDF). Government of New South Wales. August 1998. ISBN 0-7310-7658-3. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Sydney Harbour and Northern beaches recreational fishing guide
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lane Cove National Park.
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