Construction has begun on the new 67km Great Southern Walk, connecting the NSW cities of Sydney to Wollongong and traverse three unique coastal areas.
The 5-day/4-night Great Southern Walk was announced by the NSW Government in July 2021 and construction has begun on the first section of the track between Bald Hill with Stanwell Tops. This new trail will link the southern end of the Royal National Park with the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.
The walk will link up a number of already existing trails and will be ‘traversing a spectacular route from Sydney’s Kamay Botany Bay National Park, along the coastline of Royal National Park, then down to Bulli Tops in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area,’ said Minister for Environment James Griffin.
Both Wattamolla and Garie in Royal National Park are the proposed locations for new camping and accommodation facilities including camping platforms, basic hiker huts, a camp kitchen and other amenities. These areas have been proposed as they’ve previously been disturbed and are suitable for small campgrounds.
There’s a proposed walk-in campground and basic hut accommodation for the Madden Plains area of the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area, along with plans to seek out locations for an overnight hiking option.
The fourth campground is likely to be the recently upgraded and reopened Bonnie Vale Campground at the northern end of Royal National Park.
The NSW Government is spending $80 million on creating a bunch of new multi-day hikes across the state and this comes after a surge in national park visitation across the entire state since borders closed due to COVID-19.
"From Border Ranges in the north, to Kosciuszko in the south, to Hat Head in the east and Mungo in the west, visitation across our extraordinary national parks estate has surged in the past 12 months," said NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.