Most travelers leave Sydney in search of nature. They drive west to the Blue Mountains, head south to Royal National Park, or board a ferry to explore the harbor’s hidden coves and beaches.
Soon, there will be another, much closer option. The New South Wales government has announced plans to create Gulguer National Park, a new protected landscape in western Sydney near the Nepean River. The park will preserve more than 1,800 acres of bushland, protect Aboriginal cultural sites, and safeguard habitats for dozens of threatened species. Over time, it will also become an outdoor destination for walking, cycling, camping, and other nature-based recreation just beyond the city’s western suburbs.
“In future months, visitors will be able to walk and cycle on some existing management trails to enjoy the green open space that this national park provides,” a spokesperson for the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) told Afar. “In future years, visitors can expect to enjoy more walking tracks, lookouts, group camping, and picnic areas within the park.”
While travelers can already visit this public space in its current, wilder form, they will have to wait a little longer to benefit from the additional infrastructure and protections coming to Gulguer.
The park’s creation—which is expected to begin unfolding in the months ahead—marks an important conservation milestone for one of Australia’s fastest-growing urban regions. As western Sydney continues to expand, the new national park will permanently protect a landscape of eucalyptus woodland, river corridors, and Aboriginal cultural heritage that might otherwise have been vulnerable to future development.
What to know about Sydney’s new Gulguer National Park
Among the species that stand to benefit from the enhanced protections offered by the new park is the powerful owl, Australia’s largest owl.
Courtesy of the New South Wales Government
About an hour southwest of downtown Sydney, near the rural community of Bringelly, the new park links Gulguer Nature Reserve with Burragorang State Conservation Area, creating a protected area of more than 2,800 acres.
The landscape looks quite different from the dramatic cliffs and waterfalls that draw visitors to the nearby Blue Mountains. Instead, Gulguer is home to the eucalyptus groves, rambling creeks, and open gum tree forests of the Cumberland Plain, one of New South Wales’s most heavily cleared ecosystems.
The new designation will add roughly 1,800 acres of protected land to the area.
"[That] expansion will improve connectivity for plant and animal species which have been impacted by habitat fragmentation, primarily due to past land clearing and grazing,” the spokesperson said.
The park already provides habitat for at least 28 threatened species. Among them are the southern greater glider, a nocturnal marsupial that depends on mature eucalyptus forests; the powerful owl, Australia’s largest owl; the giant burrowing frog, which spends much of its life hidden underground; and the eastern coastal free-tailed bat, a fast-flying insect hunter that roosts in tree hollows. Also being protected by the new designation is the Cumberland Plain land snail, a tiny species found only in a small pocket of New South Wales that’s especially vulnerable to habitat loss.
Thousands of years of Indigenous history
Long before Sydney existed, this landscape was home to the Dharug, Dharawal, and Gundungurra peoples.
Today, the newly designated Gulguer National Park contains original Aboriginal rock art, shelters, stone artifacts, and other cultural sites that reflect thousands of years of continuous Indigenous culture. Bringing the land into the national park system will help protect those places while ensuring future visitor access is managed alongside conservation.
Although the NPWS has not yet announced how Aboriginal history and culture will be represented within the park, preserving those sites is a central component of the park’s creation.
How to visit Gulguer National Park
For now, the park is still relatively wild, but in the coming months and years, visitors can expect to be greeted with enhanced infrastructure and recreational amenities.
Courtesy of the New South Wales Government
Although Gulguer National Park has been announced, it’s still very much a park in progress.
For now, public access to the new park is available only via neighboring Bents Basin State Conservation Area, roughly a 70-minute drive from central Sydney (public transport is very limited and requires multiple regional buses). Visitors shouldn’t expect a network of signed trails or proper facilities yet.
Beyond the existing recreation areas at Bents Basin, much of Gulguer remains undeveloped bushland, with broader public access planned as the park evolves. At Bents Basin, however, there are existing riverside picnic areas, campgrounds, walking trails, and swimming and paddling spots along the Nepean River.
That access is expected to expand in stages. According to the NPWS, some existing management trails within Gulguer National Park will open for walking and cycling in the coming months, offering visitors an early opportunity to explore parts of the landscape.
Additional infrastructure—including purpose-built walking tracks, scenic lookouts, group campgrounds, and picnic areas—is planned over the coming years, though the agency has not announced a precise timeline for those projects.
For travelers visiting Sydney sooner, the NPWS recommends exploring the nearby Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Property, whose extensive trail network, waterfalls, and dramatic scenery remain one of New South Wales’s premier outdoor destinations.
