Lady Carrington Drive & Gurrumboola Ridge - The Royal National Park

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Route: Audley Dance Hall Cafe, Lady Carrington Drive, Willow Tree Flat, Jersey Springs, Forest Path, Hacking River, Courange Track, Uloola Fire Trail, Uloola Falls, Uloola Track, Wattle Forest Track, Wattle Forest Picnic Area, Currawong Flat, Engadine Track

Date: 21/12/2025
From: Audley

Parking: Audley Dance Hall
Start Point: Audley Dance Hall
Finish Point: Audley Dance Hall
Region: Royal National Park

Route length: 27.3 km
Time taken: 07:08
Average speed: 4.5 km/h
Ascent: 508m
Descent: 498m

Points of Interest: Jersey Spring, Uloola Falls 

Royal National Park—affectionately called ‘Nasho’—is Australia’s oldest national park, founded in 1879. The park sits on Dharawal and Gweagal lands, and walking its trails is a rare opportunity to follow pathways used for thousands of years for hunting, gathering, and ceremony. Indigenous rock engravings, scarred trees, and shell middens hint at this long history, particularly around the Hacking River and coastal creeks.

The park stretches from the Hacking River in the north to the cliffs at Garie and Wattamolla in the south, encompassing beaches, waterfalls, swamps, and ridges. Its accessibility from Sydney has made it a favourite escape for city dwellers for more than a century.

I was on the lookout for a long hike to test some gear for an upcoming multi-day hike and get some fitness back into my legs. The Gurrumboola Ridge circuit was ideal. What the photos don't show, however, was how hot it was - pushing 37 degrees, which is a challenge in its own right.

Starting at Audley Weir beside the Hacking River, the historic Audley Dance Hall marks the park’s visitor centre. Built in 1907, it was once a lively hub for picnics, dances, and weekend gatherings. The weir itself formed part of early water management efforts, helping control river flow to support recreation and logging activities in the surrounding bushland.

Audley Dance Hall

The hike begins along Lady Carrington Drive, a 10 km carriageway opened in 1886 by Lady Cecilia Carrington, wife of the NSW Governor. It was one of the park’s first constructed trails, designed for horse-drawn carriages to provide Sydneysiders a scenic bush retreat. The trail passes Fig Tree Flat, climbs past sandstone formations such as Gibraltar Rock, and offers glimpses of the Hacking River. Early 20th-century visitors would have traversed the same cobblestones that remain underfoot in sections of the track.

Hacking River

Hacking River

Hacking River

Beginning the hike along Lady Carrington Drive

Lady Carrington Drive

Gibraltar Rock

Some of the old pavement survives at Gibraltar Rock

Around 2.5 km in is Jersey Spring, named after the 7th Earl of Jersey, Governor of NSW at the time. The sandstone troughs built in 1892 are still functional today—a direct link to the park’s earliest visitors and their horses. Nearby, tall Sydney Red Gums and a lush fern understory provide habitat for lyrebirds, rosellas, and kookaburras. The trail passes over several creeks, which resulted in a large number of small bridges being built. The creeks are named after the traditional names of birds that inhabit the area. You will also find a small memorial plaque dedicated to to the memory of Alan Rendell, who died fighting bushfires in 1988.

Sydney Red Gums line the route

Jersey Spring

Jersey Spring

Lady Carrington Drive

Some of the old engineering is visible as you cross the creek gullies

At the southern end of Lady Carrington Drive, the Forest Path loops around Forest Island, a small hill isolated by surrounding creeks, connecting to the Couranga Track. This track crosses the Hacking River on stepping stones, a hazard in flood, and climbs to the Uloola Fire Trail, originally built in the 1930s to manage bushfires. Along the way, you pass through patches of palm forests, casuarinas, and scribbly gums, whose bark is etched by moth larvae.

Burunda Brook

Lady Carrington Drive

On to the Forest Path

Forest Path

Forest Path

Hacking River valley - full of flood debris on this occasion

Hacking River

Climbing towards the fire trail on the Couranga Track

Couranga Track

Uloola Fire Trail

The trail meanders past Uloola Swamp to the Uloola Bush Campsite and Uloola Falls. The falls, partially hidden by the surrounding bush, are a quieter counterpart to the park’s coastal waterfalls. The Uloola Track climbs from here to Gurrumboola Ridge, a ridge dotted with “whaleback” rocks that are often crossed during the hike. A lookout near Mount Ball provides panoramic views to the park’s interior and the distant coastline.

Stome clouds building - luckily heading away from the national park

Uloola Fire Trail

Uloola camping area

Gurrumboola Ridge

Some handy wayfinding

Whale-back rock

Lookout near Mount Ball

Royal National Park

Shortly after the viewpoint, the path hits a fork. Most people keep going straight on the Uloola Track toward Robertson Knoll, but the Wattle Forest Track peels off and dives straight down into the bush. Since I’d already done the Knoll on a previous trip, I was keen to see where this one led. I traded the open ridge for the shade of the forest, following the trail as it dropped down toward the Hacking River.

Uloola Track junction

Wattle Forest Track

Sydney Red Gum

Wattle Forest Track

The track eventually spits you out at the riverbank, right near the picnic areas. From there, the hard work is done—it’s just a short, easy stroll along the access road to get back to the Audley Dance Hall. 

Wattle Forest picnic area

Hacking River

Hacking River

Hacking River at Currawong Flat

Along this 27 km hike, you encounter layers of local history and natural heritage: Indigenous cultural sites, 19th-century carriageway engineering, early recreational infrastructure like Jersey Spring, and 20th-century fire trails. Flora and fauna like lyrebirds, Sydney Red Gums, and casuarinas connect the park’s present with its past, making the route a full-day journey through both bush and history.