Brilliant summer walk

Brilliant summer walk

This cracker of a walk has everything: a secluded swimming beach, wildflowers, rainforest, Aboriginal sites, and one of the best views in Sydney.

View from West Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

I have lots of favourite walks which I describe in Top Walks in NSW, and this is one of my absolute favourite summer walks, but it's also good in spring and warm autumn days. It's around one of the most northern points in Sydney, West Head, which on a clear day really does have one of the best views in this city of vistas. 
The circuit walk is only 4km long, but you'll want to allow at least two hours, and ideally three or four to get some time at the gorgeous little Resolute Beach. It does have a few stairs, so not suited to everyone.
Park at the Resolute picnic area (toilets), 12km past the entrance into Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, not long before you the road finishes at West Head.

Head straight down the fire trail at the back of the picnic area towards Resolute Beach, ignoring the turn left to West Head or Red Hands Cave (you’ll see them on the way back). In spring, this is a lovely wildflower garden.

Wildflowers and butterflies abound in spring.

After a few hundred metres, there are clearly signposted Aboriginal carvings on the left of the track, including a male figure, fish and eels, but in the middle of the day in summer they are quite hard to see. From the back of the rock platform, take the small, marked, Headland Track. It can be overgrown and scratchy, but it’s worth getting off the fire trail for 200 m. When you rejoin the fire trail, turn left and wander through an attractive forest of scribbly gums, bloodwoods, stringybark, banksias and bottlebrush.

Soon a steep track heads down to the left to “Resolute”, passing a lovely cliff line with a large Aboriginal rock shelter. Continue on the steep descent past cabbage palms until the track hits a T-junction. Turn left to Resolute (the other way goes around the headland to Mackerel Beach), and then the track forks again.
Go down to Resolute Beach, which is just a delightful place to swim and while away a few hours. On weekdays you'll probably have it to yourself. Even on the weekends when West Head is a constant stream of coaches and cars, few people bother to walk down to this little gem. Unfortunately there's little to no shade.
After cooling off, it’s back up 100 stairs, then continuing on to the right, through lovely cool rainforest gullies and along the coast. I recommend not going down to West Head Beach (not as nice as Resolute) but continuing up to West Head Lookout for those sensational 270° views over Lion Island to the Central Coast, out to Barrenjoey Lighthouse and along the whole Palm Beach isthmus.

When you are ready to move on, find the little track that heads left (when facing uphill) marked “Red Hands Cave”. It’s only 850m back to the car at this stage, and pretty flat. Listen out for the sound of cracking nuts high in the sheoak trees and you may be lucky to spy glossy black-cockatoos, with their fire-engine-red tails.

Just 250m from the end, you’ll find Red Hands Cave, with some of the only accessible Aboriginal ochre art in Sydney. Some has faded, but one hand in particular is still very obvious. It’s a peaceful and contemplative spot to spend a few minutes before heading the last couple of hundred metres back to the car.
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This walk and 62 others are detailed in my book, Top Walks in NSW