An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

Summary: A relatively short and easy ranger-guided bushwalk at Muogamarra, the Bird Gully Walk descends into a valley where it crosses Muogamarra Creek. You'll see wildflowers, birdlife and some Aboriginal grinding grooves,

Trailhead: Entrance to Muogamarra is off the Old Pacific Highway 3.5km north of Cowan. Approx 2.6km drive from the entrance to the Muogamarra Nature Reserve Visitors Centre along a gravel road.
Public transport options: Train
4.4km walk from Cowan railway station (Northern Line)
Distance: 3.2km
Duration: 1-2 hours
Grade: Easy
125m total ascent
Route type: Loop
Best season/s: Spring, Winter
Park opens on six weekends a year (usually Aug/Sep)
Topographic map/s: 9130-4N COWAN (1:25) Buy / Download
Online map: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/bird-gully-loop-312351b
No Dogs
No mountain bikes

Note: Muogamarra Nature Reserve is normally open to the public for six weekends year (in August/September), and the Bird Gully Walk is generally only accessible as a ranger-guided walk.

The Bird Gully Walk is one of the few bushwalking tracks in Muogamarra Nature Reserve – most of the other trails are fire trails. It starts (or finishes) along the North Muogamarra Field Studies Trail, and descends gently towards Muogamarra Creek.

It’s easy walking, with experienced NPWS rangers pointing out many features along the track,

There’s a few nice displays of wildflowers along the track – but as there’s been no bushfire in Muogamarra for a long time (many flowers needing fire to germinate), the flora is not particularly spectacular.

AWAT4312 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4264 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4265 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

At about the half-way mark, the track reaches Muogamarra Creek, which drops over a small cliff. Along the sandstone creek bed are potholes and some Aboriginal axe grinding grooves.

AWAT4271 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4272 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4277 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

The track then crosses Muogamarra Creek, and starts ascending gradually back up the side of the valley.

AWAT4288 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4289 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

The very last section of the track climbs past some large boulders, before reaching the carpark near the Visitors Centre (Field Studies Centre).

AWAT4297 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

AWAT4298 LR An easy loop bushwalk along the Muogamarra Bird Gully Walk

The Bird Gully Walk is about 2km, or 3.2km including the section along the North Muogamarra Field Studies Trail which connects the start and the end of the bushwalking track.

Getting to the Bird Gully Walk in Muogamarrabush

The Muogamarra Nature Reserve is about an hour north of Sydney, with the entrance (North Muogamarra Field Studies Trail) 3.6km north of Cowan station. The guided walk starts from the Field Studies Centre, which is at the end of the unsealed access road. Other Muogamarra bushwalks include:

Lloyd Trig and Deerubbin Lookover – the best views in Muogamarra from this short (4.5km) loop walk.
Peats Bight – one of the longer (10km) ranger-guided or self-guided walks, which descends past Peats Creater to Beats Bight on Berowra Creek.