Why Visit Heathcote National Park?

Fancy a quiet walk in the bush with minimal people? Want to really feel like you’re exploring the Australian wilderness but don’t have a car? Head to Heathcote National Park, only an hour from Sydney on the train. 

The week before we had finally trekked to the Figure of Eight Pools in the Royal National Park. It had been on our list of places to visit for ages and we finally took the plunge as our family was visiting. To read more about our day there, click here.

The week after, our family were off exploring Queensland and we decided to tick off another National Park whilst the weather was warm but not unbearably hot. 

As we don’t have a car, we’re currently limiting our day trips to places that are accessible by train or bus. Heathcote National Park is a perfect option.

There are a few trails you can do in this park, some are looped so you can swing back to your original train station (either Heathcote or Waterfall). 

Getting there:

We started our day by getting the train from Town Hall in the city and heading towards Waterfall. The train took approximately one hour. One of the best bits about this trip is that the train (because it was a Sunday) was super cheap and only cost us $8.90 each for a return journey. 

Once we arrived, we headed right out of the train station (or East) if you’re one of those people that have a good sense of direction.

We crossed a couple of roads but followed our way down to Warabin Street, turn right (or North) and head straight to the end to reach the Bullawarring Track.

The Hike:

Here starts your 10.5km Grade 4 trail all the way to Heathcote Station. 

This trail is pure Australian bush – a lot of cool greens, yellows and of course a blue sky.

We did find at the beginning of this trail that the track was a little tricky to find. There are sign posts which point you in the right direction but they are sometimes difficult to spot. 

Once you reach Kingfisher Pools – you’ll be more than able to keep track of your direction. 

It was also near to here that we saw our first ever Koala in the wild! We were very excited to see them around and it came as quite a big surprise to our Australian colleagues that we told that week. The koala was snoozing away (not even holding on!) Luckily a really nice gentleman allowed us to take a picture of his screen as we couldn’t get a very good angle with our iPhones – remember your good cameras as you never know what you may see!

Kingfisher Pools:

So by the time we reached Kingfisher Pools (around 2.8km from Waterfall station), we had a quick dip. We were the only ones swimming here but we did see a few other hikers as well at this point. It’s a good place to stop and cool off before either heading back to Waterfall Station, or carrying on with the trail. 

You can also camp here – there are toilets (long drops) and a picnic bench. You will need to book the campsite slot in advance as there is very limited space.

The trail continues to be very up and down, especially as you reach the ridge line of the valley. There are numerous big boulders to climb over which is a lot of fun.

Battery Causeway:

Our next stop was the Battery Causeway Picnic area. It took around an hour to get here with the first half an hour quite a hard steep uphill section. After you reach this bit, there are some great view points of the valley. It’s kind of hard to believe you’re only an hour from Sydney at this point as you can only see bushland for miles and miles.

The next section is a steady downhill toward the next swimming hole at Battery Causeway. 

From Battery Causeway we walked along the Pipeline Trail for the next 3.7km which – you’ve guessed it – is alongside a big pipeline. The red earth really comes through here unlike the sandy colour on the rest of the trail.

This probably took us the longest as were quite tired from the heat by this point. Once we reach civilisation again, we headed straight to get an ice cold coca cola. Then it was off home on the train.

Would I recommend Heathcote National Park?

This trail through Heathcote National Park was a wonderful experience. Seeing a koala was an absolute dream come true. But we also saw a lot of lizards, birds and a possum! Thankfully, we didn’t see any spiders or snakes though which was a slight concern when we set off.

I would absolutely recommend this trail to anyone who has a reasonable level of fitness and is keen to explore the bush with minimal human interactions. We liked how secluded it was and loved the swimming holes we got to do all alone. I think my happy face below says it all 😊

We would have loved to have done one more swimming hole whilst we were there which is at the Mirang Pool Campground but unfortunately it has been closed for a while now. It will be a good excuse to go back once it reopens.

Things to do before you go:

• Know your Route
• Download hiking trail app – we would suggest AllTrails where you can download the route in advance. There is no signal on the trail so this is a must and saved us a few times after going down the wrong route.
• Have sensible shoes
• Water, water water – we took 2 litres each in November. At the height of summer you may need more. 
• Food and some sugary snacks in case you need a boost.
• Swimming stuff
• Camera
• Suncream