Manly Dam & Manly Creek

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Route: Manly Dam, Circuit Track, Allambie Heights, Manly Creek, Wildflower Walk, Nature Trail, Many Dam

Date: 27/06/2020

From: Manly Dam

Parking: Streetside 

Start Point: Manly Dam war memorial

Finish Point: Manly Dam war memorial

Region: Sydney

Route length:  5.0 miles (8.0km)

Time taken: 02:27

Average speed: 2.1mph

Ascent: 213m

Descent: 199m

Points of Interest: Manly Creek

Officially called the Manly Warringah War Memorial State Park - Manly Dam is a wooded reservoir located just north of the popular suburb of Manly on the northern shores of Sydney. The reserve is centred on a man-made reservoir formed by the construction of a dam across Curl Curl Creek (now Manly Creek). A network of fire trails and paths run around the area and make for a pleasant half-day outing.

We parked close to the Manly Hydraulics Laboratory to avoid paying the excessive parking fees in the modest car park ($10 an hour!) before setting off on our anti-clockwise circuit of the reservoir first, crossing the dam.

The heritage-listed dam wall was designed and built in 1892 to provide a permanent supply of fresh water for the nearby village of Manly (now a sprawling Sydney suburb). It has been raised three times in its history to its current 35m height. The path runs across the top of the dam where, on the opposite side reservoir, is the Circuit Track, our means of circumnavigating the state park.

Manly Dam

Manly Dam

Manly Dam

The Circuit Track follows the eastern shore of the reservoir, climbing to a large fire trail at Allambie Heights some 50m above the water. At the north end of the reservoir, we reached Manly Creek, hidden among the bush preserved by the state park.

On the Circuit Track

Views of the reservoir

The steep sides of Manly Dam

The Circuit Track

Manly Dam

The Circuit Track

A verdant gully joining Manly Dam

The Circuit Track

The Circuit Track

Manly Dam was established as a War Memorial Park after World War I. A committee of ex-servicemen were given the responsibility of managing the bushland catchment of Manly Dam around 1920. The Manly Warringah War Memorial Park holds particular significance in remembering fallen service personnel from the First and Second World Wars, as well as being of significance to past and present-day members of the Defence forces.

The fire trail below Allambie Heights

The fire trail at Heartbreak Hill

Manly Creek

The Circuit Track heads south from here, following the course of the stream. It passes a couple of pretty waterfalls before the bush begins to open up at the reservoir. The wetlands here were artificially created by the dam and now form part of a very important local ecosystem.

Manly Creek

Manly Creek

Manly Creek

Waterfall on Manly Creek

The Manly Creek waterfall

Approaching the Manly Dam wetlands

Wetlands

Another small gully joins the reservoir

Eventually, we reached a picnic area and car park on the west side of the reservoir. You can opt to follow the road back to the dam but that would miss out on another interesting part of the walk, the Nature Trail. The trail begins as the modest Wildflower Walk, cutting across the hillside for a few hundred metres to the junction with the Nature Trail.

Climbing the Nature Trail

The Nature Trail is a pretty track that climbs up the hillside. There are many rocky outcrops, trees and winter flowers, perched high above the reservoir. It features a pretty stiff climb or descent, especially if you're hiking the circuit in a clockwise direction.

The Nature Trail

We passed several large sandstone blocks

Kookaburra

The descent back to the car park

Eventually, the path deposited us on the road at the war memorials next to the dam. Being a short walk, it gave us a few hours to explore the nearby Manly Beach and we were treated to some interesting early afternoon light before we hopped in the car back to Marrickville.

Manly Dam war memorial

Manly Dam

Manly Beach after a little photo editing