The Two Valley Trail [Hurlstone Park]

The Two-Valley Trail is a 13km walk through bushland, parkland and riverside from Bexley North to Campsie via the Wolli and Cooks River Valleys and their junction at Tempe.

The Two Valley Trail explores two very different inner-city valleys and their waterways:

The Cooks River Valley is part of Sydney’s multicultural heartland. Although the area is densely populated, the river frontage provides a welcome corridor of green space, flanked in sections by mangroves and native vegetation. Here the Trail runs on a shared bicycle path through attractive parklands, revegetated areas and playing fields, close to the river.

The Wolli Creek Valley includes the 50 ha of the Wolli Creek Regional Park, with its remnant bushland and rugged sandstone escarpments. A combination of native heath and forest provides shelter for many native birds, insects and lizards. The Trail runs along easy bush tracks and across grasslands, and gives occasional glimpses of the creek.

Train lines and bus services in both valleys give access at a large number of points.

Corridors of Green

The Two Valley Trail forms a vital vegetation corridor of regional significance. Such vegetation corridors are important for the survival of native plants because they provide the continuous or closely-spaced tree and shrub cover needed by native insects, birds and bats, which in turn pollinate many of the plants and spread their seeds.

Because of their extent and continuity, the foreshores of the two waterways are key elements in creating a ‘Green Web’ to link up the various isolated pockets of remnant bushland in the wider Cooks River catchment, which covers 100 square kilometres of densely populated inner-suburban Sydney.

Walking (or Cycling) the Trail

The Two Valley Trail is quite easy to follow and in the Wolli Valley bushland is marked by indicator posts. You can download a copy of a leaflet about the Trail, with a map of the route.

Guided Walks along various sections of the Trail are available. For information on these contact the Wolli Creek Preservation Society and Riverlife Interpretive Tours.

For information about guided walks by volunteers in the Wolli Valley go to www.wollicreek.org.au/activities.html

Information about guided walks by RiverLife Tour volunteers can be found at www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/environment/riverlife.htm

The Trail:

• involves minimal road crossings and street usage
• is well-serviced by rail and bus enabling it to be walked in sections
• can be extended at either end: from Campsie via Cooks River Valley to Freshwater Park, Strathfield and beyond to the harbour foreshores; from Bexley North via the M5 Linear Park to Salt Pan Creek at Riverwood and the Georges River beyond.

Who has organised the Trail?

The Trail is an initiative of five local community groups:

• Cooks River Valley Association
• Wolli Creek Preservation Society
• Friends of Ewen Park
• Mudcrabs – Ecovolunteers
• RiverLife Interpretive Tours

These groups seek to emphasise the positive values of the two valleys, which are part of Sydney’s multicultural heartland and are densely populated. The valleys have been subject to great environmental pressures since European arrival, but retain great charm and beauty, which is often overlooked and little known outside the surrounding suburbs.

THE CACHE

The cache is found in Ewen Park, in the suburb of Hurlstone Park. The park combines a landscaped picnic and play area with two sporting fields. Situated on a particularly beautiful stretch of the Cooks River, it has been used for a variety of recreational purposes by local residents for the last ninety years. You are looking for a small cylindrical tube along the path on the north side of the river, not far from the Lang Road Bridge which was opened in November 2020. The cache can be reached without having to go close to the edge of the river. There is no room for TBs or SWAG. BYO pencil or pen. Take care to replace it as found. Watch out for the many muggles who may be passing by on foot or bicycle.

Did you know, New South Wales has a geocaching association? Geocaching NSW aims to enhance and improve the activity of geocaching and holds regular events where geocachers meet to enjoy their common interests. Visit the association website.