Bidjigal Reserve, Sydney | What are the best walking trails?
The best Bidjigal Reserve walk in Western Sydney is the 8km Murri-Yanna Track from West Pennant Hills to North Rocks. Shorter walking trails include the Burraga Track and Platypus Track in Castle Hill.
The Bidjigal Reserve is sandwiched between Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills and West Pennant Hills in Western Sydney. It’s a slice of wild bushland in the city, and home to several creeks, walking tracks and native Australian animal species.
The Bidjigal Reserve is based around the Darling Mills Creek, although several tributaries pass through as well. The reserve incorporates several other green spaces, including the Eric Mobbs Recreational Reserve, Ted Horwood Reserve and Don Moore Reserve.
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Bidjigal Reserve walking trails: Platypus Track
There are several entrance points to the Bidjigal Reserve, with walking trails leading from most of them. The most popular of these Bidjigal Reserve walking trails is the Platypus Track near the Eric Mobbs Reserve in Castle Hill. This easy 1.7km loop heads to Excelsior Creek, but the platypus that gave the track its name have long gone.
There is, however, plenty more wildlife to see in this Western Sydney bushland. Sugar gliders, wallabies and echidnas are fairly common sightings, while eels and turtles can be seen in the creeks. There’s also a good chance of seeing an eastern water dragon sunning itself on the rocks near the waterways.
Bidjigal Reserve walks: The Murri-Yanna Track and Burraga Track
For a longer Bidjigal Reserve walk, the Murri-Yanna Track is 8km long and stretches from the Richard Webb Reserve in West Pennant Hills to the Speers Road Reserve in North Rocks. The Murri-Yanna Track offers a much better chance to take in the eucalypt forest, rainforest gullies, cascading creeks and sandstone cliffs.
For a halfway house, the 4.7km Burraga Track offers heathland, sandstone gullies, plenty of wildflowers and photogenic pools in the trickling creeks.
The Bidjigal Reserve is by no means the only green space in Western Sydney. The Cumberland State Forest in West Pennant Hills and Nurragingy Reserve in Doonside are also highly enjoyable in their own way.
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