O'Hares Creek Lookout Walking Track

Post

Subscribe

O'Hares Creek Lookout is located in the Dharawal National Park. It is a good uphill walk to a flat short path that culminates in the Lookout. It allows you to gaze out over the O'Hares Creek Gorge and the hills of the park itself. For a not very well-known area, it is in excellent condition with facilities that show some planning and consideration.



The Dharawal National Park has three different entry points. To access the O'Hares Creek Lookout walk you will need to enter the park through Wedderburn. After a short drive down winding roads you come to the entryway. Be assured that the whole journey to the park is via sealed roads - which means the area is easy to access even after rainy weather and in a two-wheel drive as well.

There are only a few car parking spots, but the site is not frequented, and I have never known all parking spaces to be filled. Beyond the initial entry point you will need to go on foot or on a bicycle. Some of the paths allow bicycles and others don't - the information boards clearly show which ones.



There are a number of different trails that you can follow from this location including a track that leads to Minerva Pool. There is another, known as the Jingga Track, that also leads to a scenic waterhole.

There are simple picnic facilities with tidy pathways around them very close to the car park - but far enough away that you feel that you are in the midst of the bush. The nearby unisex toilets also have disabled access. Although the rest of the attractions further on might limit the less mobile, this early part of the site is very accessible.



The whole walk up to the lookout track is on a wide gravel road. It's mostly uphill, but at a total of under 3 km return to the lookout, it's not a challenging walk.



There is a turn-off onto an impressively wide asphalt path that goes for 600 metres before you reach the lookout.





Once you reach the lookout you will enjoy views over the valley to O'Hare's Creek beneath and to the hills in the distance. It's quiet but for the sound of insects and it feels wonderfully remote with only the forest all about and little else.





As if the views weren't enough the site reveals a story of success in the face of great odds. When you get back to the parking area take a moment to check out the monument . It displays a plaque that is dedicated to the commitment of those who worked to protect the O'Hare's Creek Gorge for future generations.

The site was threatened in 1988 by a proposed development, and when opposed, a legal battle ensued leading to public petitions and protesters standing in the way of bulldozers .



The site is considered particularly important because the Wedderburn area is home to the largest koala colony in the Sydney region. It is due in great part to the persistence of the locals that the koala population - and the habitat they live in - survived the threats to it .

The plaque also reveals that the '..historic site at Wedderburn was protected by the longest running Green Bans in Australia's History, from August 1988 to December 1994.'

It's an uplifting tale of hope in the face of adversity. It is also a poignant reminder that, without the commitment displayed by the local people, there wouldn't be much to look at from the O'Hares Creek Lookout.

#free
#lookouts
#national_parks
#natural_attractions
#outdoor
#south_west
#walks
#wedderburn
%wnsydney