The most beautiful walk in Sydney
Robyn Kennedy loves to explore and photograph Sydney and surrounds. Her blog Life Out & About has become a passion, sharing ideas for outings in and around Sydney - charming gardens, bush walks, art galleries and inspiring places to eat!
Not only is the West Head Lookout in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park an ideal place to experience magnificent water views, but it is also the start of a beautiful walk to the secluded Resolute beach. The bush track descends from the lookout to the beach, winding its way through tall gums, ferns and striking grass trees, past moss and lichen covered boulders and down stairs that have been carved into the natural rocks.
Also, if you have time, the Waterfront Café at Church Point ferry wharf is an idyllic location for brunch or lunch… just 30 minutes drive away.
Where: Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park-1 hour north of Sydney CBD
Website: West Head Lookout
Allow: 1/2 day
Getting there: Car
What to See & Do
West Head Lookout view to Lion Island – Waterfront Café Church Point – Bushwalks.
1. West Head Lookout
West Head Lookout – views to Barrenjoey Lighthouse & Palm Beach.
Prepare to be impressed! The vantage point at West Head Lookout affords some of Sydney’s best water views across Pittwater and Broken Bay, to Barrenjoey Headland, Palm Beach and the Central Coast. The lookout itself is a large sandstone viewing platform with benches and shady trees. During the week it is a perfect location for a picnic, however you might find the weekends a little too busy.
Parking is available at the West Head lookout carpark, or at the Resolute Picnic area.
West Head Road – evening views looking north to the Central Coast.
2. West Head Lookout to Resolute Beach
If you love to bushwalk, the West Head area of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park offers a number of superb walks. We settled on a circular route from the Resolute Picnic Ground to the West Head Lookout (via the Red Hands Track), then down to Resolute Beach and back. Good walking shoes are recommended as some of the tracks are quite rough and slippery.
Our first destination was the fabulous West Head Lookout. I would have been quite happy to end our walk there! However, there was much more walking to do to justify our indulgent lunch at the Waterfront Café. From the southern side of the lookout, the bush track descends steeply to West Head and Resolute beaches. As you can see from the images above, there’s plenty of beautiful Aussie bush… and no shortage of stairs either… we loved it, although I’m not sure my legs did
We opted to bypass West Head beach and save our energy for the stairs to Resolute beach. What an intimate and charming beach… and beautifully secluded as well. We only had to share with a handful of bathers and a couple of small boats. Also, the views from the beach across Pittwater to Palm Beach and Barrenjoey Lighthouse were impressive.
After a recharge snack and drink it was time to head back. As expected, the track from the beach to the Resolute Picnic Ground was all uphill… only a few hundred stairs, not that I was counting! Fortunately the bush and views were a great distraction.
Resolute Beach – Ku-ring-gai Chase National park – intimate, secluded… fabulous views.
3. Waterfront Café Church Point
Waterfront Café – Church Point.
If you have time before or after your walk, I recommend brunch or lunch at the very delightful Waterfront Café, located at the Church Pt ferry wharf, only 30 minutes drive from West Head. This cheery space is overflowing with greenery and colourful old wares, and is surrounded by plenty of water and boats.
After taking in the atmosphere for a while we got down to the serious business of choosing the food, settling on the herb roasted pumpkin and ricotta pizza with a salad of fresh fig and gorgonzola – we love to share and this was the perfect choice. Not surprisingly, we still had room for something a little sweet… we just couldn’t resist having a couple of delicious tarts from the ‘dessert tray’.
You can easily justify the indulgence if you take a walk from the West Head Lookout to Resolute beach!
Have you ever been to this beautiful part of Sydney?
Image credit: Robyn Kennedy