Summary: A very long but shallow overhang with a series of alcoves, the Banksia Shelter in the McPherson State Forest includes two large Aboriginal paintings in red ochre.

The southernmost of a cluster of four shelters within the McPherson State Forest, the Banksia Shelter is a tall but very shallow overhang. It has has five alcoves or niches, which contain Aboriginal drawings.

AWAT5695 LR Banksia Shelter

The first alcove contains a red figure; it’s hard to determine what it represents.

The second alcove hs a vertical figure, also in red ochre, of what seems to be a large lizard.

The third alcove has faint red lines emanating from what appears to be a natural hole in the sandstone.

AWAT5711 LR Banksia Shelter

The last two alcoves don’t appear to to have any art, although the last one has interesting natura; patterns.

AWAT5714 LR Banksia Shelter

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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Over 40 sites have been recorded within the park; many were located along the river bank and were flooded by the building of the weir in 1938.
Hornsby Shire - which is the largest LGA in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan region - contains approximately 600 recorded Aboriginal rock art sites (and over 1,200 Aboriginal heritage sites). These date back from thousands of years to post-European contact art.
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.
Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook (Blue Mountains)
The Blue Mountains National Park (and surrounding areas along the Great Western Highway) is thought to have over a thousand indigenous heritage sites, although much of the park has not been comprehensively surveyed. The Aboriginal rock sites in the Blue Mountains include grinding grooves, stensils, drawing and rock carvings.