Although it’s one of the harder trig stations to reach in Sydney’s north, Berowra Trig makes up for this with some great views over the Hawkesbury River.
Although not one of the “first order'” trig stations, Berowra Trig was established in January 1882, and appears on the 1899 parish map. Although the rugged promontory was never developed other than along the coastline, the entire area was carved up into 40-50 acres lots in the 1830s. Today the ridge down the middle of Bar Point is a mix of private property and land owned by the Central Coast Council.
The original Berowra trig station was a brass plug; a cairn, pole and disc was installed in April 1976; the large pile marking the location is unlikely to be the original cairn. I can’t find an official height for the Berowra Trig – the height of 768 feet (234m) on the parish map is not correct. Based on the topgraphic map the height is around 225m.
The rocky outcrop on Bar Point offers some great views in almost every direction: to the south is Bar Island, an uninhabited island which has a historic cottage, church and cemetery and is believed to have been a meeting place for the Dharug, Guringai, and Darkinjung people.
To the south-east is Milson Island and Milson Passage, with the Hawkesbury River Bridge in the distance.
To the north-west is the Hawkesbury River, looking towards Pumpkin Point and Marramarra National Park on the opposite side of the river.
Looking almost directly north is the ridge that runs along the middle of Bar Point; the adjacent peak along the ridge is almost exactly the same height as Berowra Trig.
Getting to Berowra Trig
The mostly off-track bushwalk to the trig point can be done as “out and back” walk, or combined with Big Jims Point loop, which makes it a full-day, 20km hike. From the Trinity Trail (firetrail), head up towards the ridge around -33.48508, 151.17582. You may be able to follow a very faint pad, although we didn’t pick up any track until we were on the ridge.
Once in the middle of the long ridge that runs in a broadly north/south direction along Bar Point there is a very rough trail (that’s probably a fairly liberal use of the term “trail”).
The occasional rock cairn and snapped branch is an indication we’re not the first bushwalkers to venture out along the ridge.
About halfway along the ridge is a nice view of the Hawkesbury River – it’s the first time there has been any views.
The last part of the route is the hardest, as you need to go over – or around – a small hill along the ridgeline. The right (western) side is too steep, but the eastern side offers a viable route under a series of interesting shelters.
On the southern side of this unnamed hill is what appears to be a hole for a fence cut into the sandstone; it’s a little incongruous as the terrain is steep and there is no sign of development anywhere near here. Perhaps it reflects the boundary of one of the original 40 acre blocks.
The route descends to a saddle between this hill and the Berowra Trig hill; there’s been on signs of trail for a while.
There’s another ascent up the the next and final hill; a small cairn indicates the route, which goes around and over a series of boulders.
Near the top is a narrow rock ridge of rock, with the trail passing along the right (western) side before a final, easy scramble to the Berowra Trig at the top of the rock outcrop.
We take almost the same route back, this time climbing up to the top of the second-last hill along the ridge, which offers a nice view over the Hawkesbury River.
As we drop down the side of the hill, we explore a couple of the caves and a natural arch that we passed on the way up.
As we reach the end of the ridge, we descend in a more northerly direction which takes us onto Big Jims Point firetrail. It’ gets a bit scrubby and in hindsight would have been easier to retrace our steps to the main Trinity Trail.
As an out-and-back walk to Berowra Trig it’s about 12km return, but most of it’s off-track (on a very rough pad) so allow at least four hours. The start of the bushwalk is along the old Pacific Highway; look for a trail at -33.475440, 151.189410 that drops down the embankment and away from the road. It soon joins the main firetrail. There is ample parking along the shoulder of the old highway.
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