Founded in 1879 by Sir John Robertson, Premier of New South Wales, it is the world's second oldest purposed national park, the first usage of the term "national park" after Yellowstone in the United States. Its original name was The National Park, but it was renamed in 1955 after a visit by Queen Elizabeth II.
Audley can be accessed by road, and there are several railway stations on the outskirts of the park. Bundeena and Maianbar can also be accessed by road through the park or by the passenger ferry service from Cronulla. Road access is also possible from the south at Otford near Stanwell Park.
There are numerous walking trails, BBQ areas & picnic sites throughout the park. Mountain Biking is allowed on Fire Trails and on specially marked tracks within the Park. The specially marked Mountain Biking tracks are bi-directional, care should be taken when traversing these trails. There is a car park just within the Park to leave vehicles. A fee of $11.00 Australian Applies when taking a car into the Park.
One popular walk is the coast walk. It is a two day walk, involving walking from Bundeena to North Era and camping for the night. The next day's walk proceeds to Otford, where there is a railway station. This walk is often done as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
There were big bushfires in 1994 that burnt large parts of the park. Now these areas are being rehabilitated.
There are camping sites at Bundeena and North Era.
Geography, Flora and Fauna
The Royal National contains a wide variety of terrain. Roughly, the park moves from coastal cliffs broken by beaches and small inlets to an ancient high plateau broken by extensive and deep river valleys. The river valleys drain from south to north where they run into Port Hacking, the extensive but generally shallow harbour inlet which forms the northern border of the park. When looking across the park from east to west (or vice versa) the rugged folds of valley after valley fade into the distance.
Coastal Heathland
Running the full coastal length of the park is a coastal heathland characterised by hardy, low-growing, salt-tolerant shrubs spread across rocky, hard terrain with very little topsoil. The coast itself is composed mostly of high cliffs reaching a height of nearly two hundred metres at the southern end. These cliffs are puntuated by a number of fine, sandy beaches open to the ocean and providing fine swimming and surfing. Several of the beaches can be reached by road, others only by several hours bush walking. There are a small number of rocky coves. The beaches, two of which have volunteer surf life saving clubs and large car parks, are amongst the most visited areas of the park.
Exposed Uplands
Moving further inland the terrain rises to a series of very rocky ridges and plateaus characterised by hardy, low growing shrubs and very poor, rocky soil. These ridges are the remnants of an ancient, much larger plateau that has been deeply eroded into an extensive series of river valleys.
Valley Sides
On the sides of the steep river valleys that punctuate the uplands the terrain changes to exposed rock with collected pockets of soil. Although still fairly rocky, a large number of eucalyptus and other tree species are prevalent. Small streams are to be found reasonable frequently and understory plants cohabitate with the larger trees, although the terrain is still fairly open and easy to move through. Tree heights in this area reach an average maximum of about ten metres. The plant mix and geography conditions in this area are very typical of much of the terrain in the coastal areas of New South Wales.
Valley Floors
With rich soils and good supply of water the valley floors are cooler and more humid than any other part of the park. Large tree species such as Australian Cedar and the larger Eucalypt species dominate. Tree height reach 30 metres or more and a rich understory of fern, wattles and other medium size plants proliferate. Some small areas are classified as temperate rainforest. These areas are characterised by dense groves of very large trees including the iconic Port Jackson and Moreton Bay Fig trees. The absence of light leads to a lackof undergrowth other than a profusion of ferns. These are among the more popular areas for visitors to the park. The park service is also very careful to protect these areas due to their general rarity in the hot, arid Australian landscape.
Park Highlights
Audley - Audley is a large, flat area at the base of one of the larger valleys in the park. The main road into the park from the north drops quickly down from the heights to Audley, where it crosses the river on a weir before climbing up the other side of the valley to continue further into the park. Audley was developed in the late 19th century as a picnic area for Sydneysiders on a day trip. A large, heritage listed timber boatshed from that time still exists on the western bank of the weir and currently rents rowing boats and canoes to allow leisurely exploration of the upper reaches of the river. A timber dance hall built in the early 20th century on the eastern bank is available for functions. Large picnic areas, grassy meadows and a cafe, rest rooms and a colony of hungry ducks complete the picnic picture. Audley is as popular with families today as it was in the 19th century. After heavy rain the weir floods, closing the road and forcing the residents of Bundeena to drive an extra 30 kilometres to the southern end of the park if they wish to drive to Sydney.
Eagle Rock - A unique rock formation near Curracarong, about half way down the length of the park on the coast. It is a large rock outcrop that look like an eagle's head when viewed from the side. The other remarkable feature of Curracarong are the several waterfalls which tumble over the cliffs and into the sea over one hundred metres below.
Garie Beach - One of the most popular coastal surf beaches in the park.
Wattamolla beach has a large lagoon tucked behind the beach, which then enters the sea via an ankle deep stream at one end of the beach. Families enjoy playing in the calm lagoon with their young children whilst adults enjoy the clean, even surf. Substantial parking and a canteen serving refreshments on summer weekends are also there.
Lady Carrington Drive - Lady Carrington Drive was one of the early roads through the park. It runs south from Audley, roughly following the river upstream from the weir for a distance of about 10km (6 miles) to its end, where it meets the main sealed road through the park (there is no parking at this end). The road was a popular carriage drive in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It had long been closed to traffic and now forms one of the most popular walking and cycling tracks in the park. It is mostly flat and well formed (although unsealed) and being a former road averages 4 to 5 metres (12 to 18 feet) in width. It passes through the valley floor vegetation mentioned above and in spring is lit up by the brilliant yellow displays of wattle trees and the oranges and reds of the Australian native Banksia trees and Waratah flowers. Most people arrange to be dropped at the southern end and then walk back to Audley where they are picked up by a friend or relative. Many secondary schools in the Sutherland Shire area use Lady Carrington Drive for an annual sports or fundraising event where their students walk from the southern end through to Audley where a large barbeque picnic is held.
