Sams Creek Art Shelters

Summary: One of the most spectacular Aboriginal rock art sites in Sydney's north, with red ochre and charcoal drawings across two adjacent shelters.

  • Art type/s: Cave Painting
  • Number of sites: 2
  • Number of motifs: 20
  • Motif/s: Deity, Goanna, Indeterminate figure, Kangaroo, Man
  • Quality: 4/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • Year first recorded: 2021

Two adjacent shelters along the same cliff-line in Mt Ku-ring-gai contain some of the most spectacular Aboriginal rock art in Sydney’s north.

AWAT0592 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0606 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters

One of the central figures is drawn in red ochre, and looks similar to a Baiame motif at the Cliff Oval site in Wahroonga.

AWAT0562 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters

Most of the artwork is in charcoal, with a large panel containing multiple motifs.

AWAT0571 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0569 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0577 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0582 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters

More charcoal art is located on smaller across the two shelters.

AWAT0598 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0600 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters
AWAT0594 LR Sams Creek Art Shelters

Unlike many other shelters around Mt Ku-ring-gai, there is no graffiti and no evidence of recent habitation.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Hiking the World, and receive notifications of new posts by email. (A hike is added every 1-2 weeks, on average.)

Join 1,225 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock Art – Berowra Valley
Over a hundred Aboriginal sites have been recorded in the Hornsby region, with many of these in the Berowra Valley National Park and around the suburb of Berowra.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Maroota and Marramarra NP
Located to the north-west of Sydney, just south of the Dharug and Yengo National Parks, Maroota has a high concentration of (known) Aboriginal sites. Many more Aboriginal heritage sites are located in the Marramarra National Park. The original inhabitants of the area were the Darug people.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Lane Cove
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.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Blue Mountains 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.