After a very short afternoon walk to the Middle Cove Trig and the Harold Reid Lookout, I still have a bit of time to explore the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk. Although the Harold Reid Reserve is surrounded by suburbia, the bushwalking track – which does a loop around the foreshore of the Harold Reid headland (or the Sugarloaf) – soon leaves the houses behind. But not the people; it’s a popular (and dog-friendly) bushwalk on weekends. (The Harold Reid Reserve is Willoughby’s second largest bushland reserve.)
The trail descends gently towards Sugarloaf Bay, with the vegetation gradually changing from drier eucalypt forest to moister Coastal Sandstone Gully Forest.
There are soon glimpses of the bay, and some of the houses of Castle Cove (once known as “Little Sugar Loaf Peninsula”) on the other side.
The north-west side of the foreshore (just below where Scotts Creek flows into the North Arm of Sugarloaf Bay) consists of Grey Mangroves. In this area is a small set of Aboriginal axe grinding grooves, one of the many indigenous sites in Harold Reid reserve. Although Governor Phillip explored the area in 1788, the rugged terrain was not appealing and the area was inhabited until 1820 by the Cammeraygal people.
The Harold Reid Foreshore Walk now follows the foreshore fairly closely, with many vantage points over the bay.
There are a few side-trails down to the water, and the many sandstone shelters and oyster-encrusted rocks.
A couple of sandstone boulders provide more views over Sugarloaf Bay.
From the end of the last trail down to the water’s edge, instead of continuing along the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk I stay on the waterline, walking along the intertidal zone past more rock shelters and a tapestry of eroded sandstone platforms.
Eventually I reach an imposing boulder that juts out into the water, barring any further progress; I bush-bash a very short distance up the slope to re-join the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk track.
The track now approaches the mangroves on the southern side of “The Sugarloaf”, before ascending via a set of timber steps.
It’s much wetter and the track a little muddy in places, as it continues to ascend more gently up the gully above Sugarloaf Creek.
An unnamed track on the left drops steeply back down into the gully towards Sugarloaf Creek, offering a much less-travelled and interesting detour from the busy Harold Reid Foreshore Walk.
The track passes a steep cliff which forms part of the Castlecrag Northern Escarpment; the steep topography and water-only access protected this area from development in the 19th century when most of the land on the Castlecrag Peninsula was auctioned and privately owned.
The vegetation at the bottom of the gully is very swampy – the Castlecrag Northern Escarpment includes “a small but significant stand of rainforest species forming a closed forest”. A fairly makeshift “bridge” crosses Camp Creek.
A second, even less cpnfidence-inspiring bridge crosses the shallow Sugarloaf creek.
The trail now starts to disappear, but it’s not long before a waterfall comes into sight; I don’t believe it has an official name (and it’s not shown on the topographic map), so I’ll call it Sugarloaf Creek Falls.
From here there are a few altermate routes that take you up to Sunnyside Crescent or Edinburgh Road in Castlecrag – but as this is completely the wrong direction to get back to my car. I re-trace my steps back across the two creeks and past the cliffs of the Castlecrag Northern Escarpment to get back to the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk
Once back on the main track, it’s a short walk up to Rembrandt Drive to complete the loop.
While not the most exciting bushwallk I’ve done lately, it’s been a pleasant loop (best done during the week when it’s no doubt a bit quieter) with the the option of some easy off-track walking along the foreshore and a detour to a picturesque waterfall.
Getting to the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk
The signposted trailheads for this loop walk are along the sealed road which does a loop through the Harold Reid Reserve from Rembrandt Drive in Middle Cove. There is plenty of parking along Rembrandt Drive. The road into the reserve is closed overnight to cars (the gate is open between 5:30am and 5:30pm) but you can enter at any time on foot. You could easily extend the walk – the Harold Reid Foreshore Walk connects with the North Arm Reserve, so you can continue another 4km to finish the walk at Cammaray Road in Castle Cove.
More information
- Willoughby City Council – Harold Reid Foreshore Track [PDF]
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