The Little Digger Track was named in honour of William Morris Hughes, a local resident, member of the first Commonwealth Parliament and Australian Prime Minister from 1915 to 1923. He became known as “The Little Digger” because of his association with Australian troops during World War One, and the symbol of the track is the Slouch Hat worn by troops in the Australian army.
The Little Digger Track starts opposite the Little Digger Park in Roseville, descending along Moores Creek before meeting the Two Creeks Track which runs along Middle Harbour. It was originally built to provide access to the Roseville Baths, fell into disuse after the Baths were demolished, and was later restored.
Roseville to Little Digger Track (via Two Creeks Track)
We’re starting the walk at Echo Point Park (Roseville) and following the Two Creeks Track, before taking the Little Digger Track – there are eight Cub Scouts doing today’s walk with me!
After crossing the park, which has picnic tables and barbeque, the trail enters the bush. Most of the Two Creek Track follows a thin strip of bushland between Middle Harbour Creek and residential properties.
The track passes a small beach – although it’s perhaps best described as a tidal strip of sand. A nice spot at low tide, but the beach is underwater at high tide. Soon afterwards is another picnic area. This first part of the walk is almost disconcerting as you go from manicured lawns and picnic tables to a rough track and roc overhangs, and back to a picnic area.
The second picnic area is the site of the Roseville Baths, which were built in 1924 and demolished in 1974. The old Roseville Bridge crossed Middle Harbour near the Baths, a short distance downstream of the current bridge.
From here the track gets a little more “serious”, as it follows the edge of Middle Harbour past sandstone overhangs and the occasional gully. The track passes “Marjories Glen” (which sounds charming by name, but is more of a weed-infested concrete drain, adorned with signs warning of sewage overflow after rain) and the site of the former Roseville Park.
Although never far from suburbia, this is a nice section of the Two Creeks Track as it passes under Roseville Bridge and through shaded eucalypy forest. On the opposite side of Middle Harbour is Davidson Park.
I’m doing less than half of the Two Creeks Track: after crossing Moores Creek on a sturdy bridge, I continue up the Little Digger Track.
Little Digger Track
Near the start of the track, a short scramble takes you to down a small waterhole and waterfall along Moores Creek (according to the Ku-ring-gai Council brochure this is Carlyle Falls – but I’m not sure this is correct). The pool looks quite idyllic, but unfortunately it catches a lot of rubbish that flows into the creek – so it’s actually not a particularly pleasant spot.
A bit further upstream is the signposted Babbage Falls, named after Eden Herschel Babbage (1843-1924) who is regarded as ‘The Father of Roseville’. There’s a nice view from the top of the waterfall down into the pool below.
For the best view of the waterfall, look for an unmarked but fairly obvious track, which is about 50m before the signposted lookout. This takes you to the start of a the “secret cave”, a long overhang that you can walk under to get close to the base of the waterfall.
You can also scramble across the creek to get view of the cave and waterfall.
Near the waterfall along the Little Digger Track are a number of rock overhangs that may have been used as occupation shelters by the Darramuragal or Darug people who lived in the area; one of the shelters has some faint Aboriginal hand stencils.
Further upstream and also signposted is the aptly named Little Falls, a small cascade that drops into a wide pool. It’s a serene spot, even if the waterfall is less-than-spectacular.
The Little Digger Track continues climbing up along Moores Creek.
Just before reaching Carnarvon Road, the track veers away from the creek and goes behind a few houses.
The track is now on-road for about 400m, as it follows Carnarvon Road and Golfers Lane, before re-entering Moores Creek Reserve at the end of Luxor Parade. It then follows Moores Creek again for the last few hundres metres, before reaching Armana Parade.
0.0km Echo Point Park (Roseville Chase) 2.1km Turn onto Little Digger Track 2.7km Babbage Falls 2.9km Little Falls (short signposted side-track) 3.2km End of Carnavon Road (East Lindfield) 3.6km End of Luxor Parade 4.1km Corner of Armana Place and Roseville Avenue (Roseville)
Alternate bushwalking options
There are many other bushwalks that explore the bushland around Middle Harbour:
- Two Creeks Track Loop (8.5km circuit) – combines most of the Two Creeks Track and Little Digger Track to offer the best of both tracks with the least “on road” walking and no back-tracking.
- Two Creeks end-to-end (6.1km one-way) – starts on Slade Avenue (Lindfield) and finishes at Echo Point (Roseville). A great option if you can do a car-shuffle or use public transport, otherwise you’re better off doing the Two Creeks Track Loop.
- Middle Harbour Loop (19km) – this is a much longer and more challenging loop walk along both sides of Middle Harbour, which incorporates the entire Two Creeks Track.
Little Digger Track – a Dog Friendly Walk
This walk can be done with a dog – in fact, most of the Two Creeks Track (and the entire Little Digger Track) is through Ku-ring-gai Council bushland reserves where dogs are allowed (on leash).
For more dog-friendly bushwalks in the area, have a look at Walking with Dogs in Sydney’s North.
More information on Little Digger Track
- Wildwalks – Little Digger Track detailed track notes
- Ku-ring-gai Council – Two Creeks Track and Little Digger Track
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