Split into three distinct sections, divided by natural geography, urban development and road infrastructure, the park comprises the valley of Middle Harbour Creek and its tributaries, the slopes along
the northern side of Middle Harbour as far as Bantry Bay and part of the catchment of Narrabeen Lakes.
The park trails are popular with bushwalkers and mountain bike riders, particularly between Belrose and St Ives in an area known as Cascades after the Cascades Track that runs through the area. There are over 35 trails in the park covering 120km, including both authorised bushwalking and mountain-biking trails, and unofficial or unsanctioned tracks.[2]
Etymology and indigenous heritage
The word Garigal is a derivation of the word Carigal or Caregal used to describe the indigenous people who lived in Guringai country,[3] translated in modern English as Ku-ring-gai.[4]
The Guringai people are the traditional custodians of the land now reserved as the Garigal National Park and there is considerable evidence of past Aboriginal activity in the area, with over 100 Aboriginal sites recorded to date, including shelters, cave art, rock engravings, middens, grinding grooves and a possible stone arrangement.[5]
In the south–eastern sector – Surrounding Bantry Bay between Killarney Heights and Forestville to the west; and Wakehurst Parkway and the Manly Dam Reserve to the east.
Features
Fauna
A Dry Sclerophyll Forest, Garigal National Park is home to a wide range of fauna, including birds, snakes and a wide range of native mammals (such as bandicoots, koalas, wallabies).[6]
There is also a number of introduced pests, including rabbits and foxes.[7]