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Central Coast Bushwalk

Strickland Aboriginal Engravings (0.4km)

A short, flat 0.4km walk in Strickland State Forest near Narara to Darkinung Aboriginal rock engravings, through banksia and protea wildflowers.

At a glance

Distance
400m
Ascent
10m
Dogs
Yes, off leash
Toilets
Yes
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This is a short, gentle walk in Strickland State Forest above Narara, and one of the most quietly moving places on the Central Coast. In less than half a kilometre of flat, easy walking you reach a sandstone platform carved with Aboriginal engravings that have looked out over this country for thousands of years. The track in is small and easy to miss, which is part of the charm, so take your time and keep your eyes open.

The forest itself is worth the trip. In late winter and spring the understorey fills with banksia and protea, black cockatoos drift overhead, and the whole ridge smells of warm sandstone and eucalypt.

Please treat the engravings with the care they deserve. This is a living cultural site on Darkinung Country. Look, sit with it, take photographs, but never walk on the engravings, trace them, or move anything. Leave it exactly as you found it for the next person and for the generations after them.

Walk directions

  1. Start, Maranoa Street: -33.37146215486437, 151.33400917053223 Google Maps Link
  2. Turn right along a very small and hard to find track: -33.370946959869926, 151.33340835571292 Google Maps Link
  3. Turn Left onto Rain Forest Road and head up the hill: -33.37193702754812, 151.3331776857376 Google Maps Link
  4. Turn Left to a small lookout then head back down the hill. There are two paths and they both end up in the same place: -33.37239845795555, 151.3339447975159 Google Maps Link
Wildflowers along the track in Strickland State Forest
A protea in flower beside the Strickland engravings walk
Black cockatoos in the forest at Strickland
Sandstone platform along the Strickland engravings walk
Bushland along the Strickland engravings track
Darkinung Aboriginal rock engravings at Strickland
Detail of the rock engravings at Strickland State Forest

The Central Coast holds one of the richest concentrations of Aboriginal rock art anywhere in Australia. The Australian Museum has traced the art of the Darkinung people all the way from the coast here to Wollemi National Park, some 90km to the west. The Strickland engravings sit within that story, carved into a rock platform above Narara Creek, and this is a particularly beautiful example.

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The cover of A Cornucopia of Central Coast Walks: watercolour wildflowers, including a waratah and orchids, on a bright yellow background

The book

33 dog walks in the book

A Cornucopia of Central Coast Walks has a dog section with 33 walks your dog can come on, from the beaches at Forresters, Pearl Beach and Patonga to the trails at Strickland and Mt Alison. Each one has a map and numbered directions.

See the book
The cover of The Bush Wee: a girl with red bunny ears and a starry blue dress peeks out from behind a tree beside a waterfall

A picture book

A picture book for little walkers

The Bush Wee is my read aloud picture book for children aged 2 to 7. A little explorer sets off on a big walk in the Central Coast bush, then realises there is no toilet for miles. Along the way it teaches real bush skills, like which soft leaves make good toilet paper.

See the picture book
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This walk is on Darkinung country. Good Architect acknowledges the Darkinung people as the Traditional Custodians of this land and we pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. Darkinjung Land Council.