A suburban bushwalk along the Callicoma Walk in Cherrybrook

The Callicoma Walk has the promise of being a pleasant bushwalk on an overcast and slightly rainy weekend, as it follows some of the creeks and valleys that dissect the Cherrybrook area. Unfortunately – as is often the case after rain – sewage overflow from Sydney’s antiquated sewerage system leaves a frequent whiff of poo along much of the walk. It’s still a pleasant walk, but best if you have anosmia – or don’t go after it’s been raining! The Callicoma Walk is named after the Black Wattle (Callicoma serratifolia), a small tree that grows close to creeks and gullies along the walk. It’s a fairly “new” bushwalk, having been opened by the Hornsby Shire mayor, Councillor Mick Gallagher, on 9 April 1995.

There are a few places you can start the loop walk; we leave the car near Cherrybrook Lakes (a chain of ponds created by damming the creek when this was a farming area). We head down the Blackwattle Trail, which starts near the Cherrybrook Rural Fire Brigade. The firetrail initially follows the back of properties, through an area which “was previously a construction site for the installation of sewer lines in the area”. Nice. We soon turn veer right and drop into the valley, crossing Berowra Creek.

We cross Berowra Creek again as we alternate between the Blackwattle Trail on one side the the creek, and the McKinley Firetrail on the other.

Most of the walk so far is on firetrails.

A short side-trip takes us along a section of the Great North Walk, as we turn off the firetrail and take the walking track, which crosses the creek before following Berowra Creek along the valley.

The ulterior motive for this bushwalk was to try and locate some Aboriginal rock art sites, hence the ocassional detour off the Callicoma Loop. The sites we’re looking for are hidden somewhere in the bush, with helpful descriptions like “High above a creek junction in large cave”. Many sites in this area were initially recorded by Rosemary Taplin, a postal worker and amateur archaeologist, whose ability to find sites far outweighed her ability to document meaningful locations…

…after tortuous investigations on Rosemary Taplin’s methodology for Aboriginal site recording in the 1960s I still feel bewildered and unready to offer a key for reliable results in the hunt for a Taplin site. Except for those sites which have been independently discovered and recorded by others, I have so far failed to locate even one Taplin site in the field!”

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists (1992)

We fail to find two of the woefully documented sites after bush-bashing through wet scrub, and retreat back to the Callicoma Walk, crossing Zig Zag Creek (which flows into Berowra Creek). This is close to The Jungo (a colloquial term for “junction”). According to the official Callicoma Walk brochure: “until 1940s local kids swam in the creeks until they began contracting infections from the water.”

The trail traverses the of a spur above the creek, before dropping down into the valley again.

The Callicoma Walk now follows Nyrippin Creek; the word “nyrippin” is said to be a non-local Aboriginal word meaning “to clean” or “to wash”… and it’s also said to be an Aboriginal word for “‘clear”. So no-one really has a clue what it really means. This is the nicest section of the Callicoma Walk, as it closely follows the creek – aside from the olfactory experience.

The track is mosrty on the eastern side of the creek, but crosses over a sturdy metal bridge, which provides a bird-eye view of the somewhat foul-smelling creek.

There is one more crossing of Nyrippin Creek right at “The confluence”, which is the junction of Nyrippin and Berowra Creeks. While the Callicoma Walk continues along Nyrippin Creek, Matt insists there is a secret waterfall not shown on any map, and we dutifully if a little dubiously follow him along the path that goes up Berowra Creek.

Sure enough, after about 400m an unmarked pad veers off the main track to a waterfall along Berowra Creek. (I never really doubted him.)

Returning to the Callicoma Walk, we explore some of the Callicoma Caves, a series of large Hawkesbury Sandstone overhangs.

One of these caves – which may once have been an Aboriginal shelter – has been used as a camping, with more discarded plastic chairs and tables than your average living room.

After another small off-track detour, we find ourselves back on the Callicoma Walk, on one of the more rainforest-y sections.

A signposted trail descends to the slightly underwhelming Coachwood Grotto: “a peaceful spot on a bend in Nyrippin Creek”. The tranquil creek is surrounded by towering Coachwood trees… and a some rubbish swept downstream from the recent rain.

The walk continues along the southern side of the creek for just under half a kilometre.

It reaches nice cascade, where Nyrippin Creek dropps over several rock ledges.

There’s one last crosssing of Nyrippin Creek via raised concrete stepping cylinders just upstream from the cascade. The Callicoma Trail then goes a short way back down the creek on the opposite side, before exiting on Francis Greenway Drive. The final kilometre to close the circuit is along the road.

It’s taken us about 12km and five hours with a fair bit of off-track exploration; stick to the trail and the Callicoma Walk is about 5.1km and should take about two hours. If you do want to extend the walk, you can continue down the Great North Walk to make this a full-day adventure.

Getting to the Callicoma Walk

The easiest place to start this walk is at Cherrybrook Lakes on Shepherds Drive, which has plenty of parking along the road. This is about 12km (15min) drive from Hornsby, or 12min by bus from Pennant Hills station (the closest railway station). The official Callicoma Walk brochure suggests an alternate starting point, which is the corner of Francis Greenway Drive and Macquarie Drive.

More information

• Discover Hornsby – Callicoma Walk [PDF]
• Friends of Berowra Valley Regional Park – Guide to Berowra Valley Regional Park, p.161 [PDF]