Berowra to Berowra | GNW
The Great North Walk
Berowra Heights to Berowra Heights | Approx. 9.5 km | 4 Hours | Hard
No, we are not walking around in circles! Starting from the southern end of Berowra Heights down to Berowra Waters and then back up to the northern side of Berowra Heights. The hardest hills I have encountered so far along the Great North Walk, combined with possibly some of the best views we have had so far.
J did this stretch of the trail a couple of weeks ago when I was busy, but she and her partner have decided it was so nice they will do it again.
We drop a car at Turner Close, where we plan to finish, and head back to Berkeley Close and the top of the of the Berkeley Close Service Trail. After quite a steep decent for a few hundred meters down the service trail, you will find a GNW signposted track to the right. Follow the track down some steps and across Banggarai Creek via a timber bridge, up some more timbers steps, and then along a sandy track winding through the forest and down across a small gully before you begin to climb again.
As the track wanders along the ridge there are glimpses of the houses of Berowra Waters and some lovely, unfenced cliff views over Berowra Creek where we can see people kayaking.
At about the 1.5km mark the track starts heading fairly steeply down to water level and follows the shore line for a short time. Passing over a rock platform with a creek running over it there are two circular holes in the rock, this is Washtub Gully. Supposedly early settlers in the area did their washing here, hence its name.
Continuing along the creek from Washtub Gully the track leads you to Berowra Waters Road, just near the where the car ferry crosses Berowra Creek. Berowra Waters offers a couple of options for a break if you need it. ‘Chef’s Café’ is just to your left towards the ferry, or go for a ride across the creek (ferry is free) to either ‘The Waterview Restaurant’ or ‘The Fish Café’. If you are just after a toilet stop there are public amenities just to your right on the corner of Kirkpatrick Way and Berowra Waters Road – this is the direction the walk will continue in.
What goes down must now go back up
So far this section of the walk has been part of the Benowie Track which started back at Galston Gorge, at the end of Kirkpatrick Way the Hawkesbury Track begins and follows the creek for a short way before heading up hill quite steeply. This is the first of two big hill climbs we will be tackling today. This is quite a popular walking track and each time we meet a group of walkers heading the opposite direction I am glad of an excuse to stop for a minute and catch my breath.
At the top of this first hill is a large rock platform with great views back along Berowra Valley and over the ferry at Berowra Waters. Heading away from the water the track starts back downhill until you reach a lovely creek crossing at Deep Bay Creek. There is a small waterfall that cascades over a series of rock ledges, to a fern-fringed pool at the bottom. We were very tempted to soak our feet for a while but decided to push on with the second hill climb of the day.
This climb is a little under 1km and very steep in parts. Some rock scrambling and several spots where metal rungs have been placed into boulders to help with the climb. Near the top of the hill you will find the ‘The Roland Murray Bench’ under a rock overhang, a welcome resting spot, thank you Roland Murray, whoever you are.
At the top of the climb there are more views along the valley, this time to the north, and the track levels out along a management trail until you reach the Ridge Top campsite. From here we took the Turner Fire Trail to the end of Turner Road and back to the car. The Great North Walk or Hawkesbury Track descends from here into another valley before ascending to Cowan Station.
This post is not a comprehensive guide to the GNW, more resources for these walks can be found at http://www.thegreatnorthwalk.com
