Garigal National Park


The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney central business district.
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 and part of the catchment of Narrabeen Lakes.
The park trails are popular with bushwalkers and mountain bike riders, particularly between and in an area known as Cascades after the Cascades Track that runs through the area. Others trails include the Heath Track and Bare Creek Track.

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, translated in modern English as Ku-ring-gai.
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.

Location

Much of the park is bounded by residential development along the ridge tops and it is easily accessible at numerous points by road and water. Several other conservation reserves and areas of bushland are adjacent or close by the Garigal National Park, including the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the Sydney Harbour National Park, the Manly Warringah War Memorial Park and a number of areas of Crown land and other reserves in Warringah, Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby local government areas.
The national park is defined by the following boundaries

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.
There is also a number of introduced pests, including rabbits and foxes.

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