Cowan, NSW
14.6 km (4.5 hrs )
★★★☆☆

This section of the Great North Walk (a 250 km track linking Sydney to Newcastle) explores the ridges and gullies of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park between Cowan and Brooklyn. The walk is a bit of a marathon, with plenty of steep ascents and descents along the way. It is definitely best to do this walk from Cowan, where you finish off at Brooklyn by heading downhill rather than uphill if you were to finish at Cowan!

The walk begins at platform 1 of Cowan Station and quickly descends to the picturesque Jerusalem Bay, the highlight of the walk for me. From here the going was more difficult, with some steep ascents before following the fire trails to historic Brooklyn Dam and on to the Hawkesbury River. With a bit of energy left, I finished the walk with the scenic detour around Flat Rock Point where there some nice views of the Hawkesbury River.

A nice day out, and probably the last for a while, since Sydney has once again gone into lockdown due to rising covid cases.