Bents Basin is a protected

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

and

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

near

Wallacia, New South Wales Wallacia is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Formerly a rural village it is west of the Sydney GPO (General Post Office), in the local government areas of the City of Penrith, City of Liverpool and Wollondilly S ...

, Australia in the Sydney metropolitan area. The lake basin, which formed at the efflux of the

Nepean River The Nepean River (Darug language, Darug: Yandhai), is a Perennial stream, major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury ...

from the Hawkesbury Sandstone (

Sydney sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

) gorge, is a popular

swimming hole A swimming hole is a place in a river, stream, stream, creek, spring (hydrosphere), spring, or similar natural body of water, which is large enough and deep enough for a person to human swimming, swim in. Common usage usually refers to freshwate ...

with a

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

area and an education centre used by local school groups. Also featuring a large

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

area and native wildlife, the reserve is the only picnic area along the Nepean River and it is one of the most popular water-based picnic parks in

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

History

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

were denizens of the area due to its vicinity to the Nepean River, which featured food and water. The Basin is believed to have been a traditional meeting and trading place between Aboriginal groups. Having spiritual and cultural significance to Aboriginal communities, camps were used to provide an opportunity for Aboriginal people to connect with each other and their culture. Bents Basin was discovered in 1804 by the botanist

George Caley George Caley (10 June 1770 – 23 May 1829) was an English botanist and explorer, active in Australia for the majority of his career. Early life Caley was born in Craven District, Craven, Yorkshire, England, the son of a horse-dealer. He was ed ...

, who named it 'Dovedale', where it has since then been a popular place for botanists. The site was originally a small natural basin formed in an erosion basin banked by

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

outcrops, considerably enlarged with a large earth fill dam constructed by the Army's 17th Construction Squadron in 1987–88. A prominent inn was located within the park and is listed on the ''NSW State Heritage Inventory''. The inn was built in the 1860s and the site is of local importance, as it gives details of

western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

's history, early road networks and the rise and fall of rural communities in the region. Destroyed in the 1950s, the inn's location is marked by a pepper tree (

Schinus areira ''Schinus'' is a genus of flowering trees and tall shrubs in the sumac family, Anacardiaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as pepper trees. The Peruvian pepper tree (''Schinus molle'') is the source of the spice known as pink pepperc ...

). The Basin was reserved as State Recreation Area in 1994.

Geography

The Basin features a

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

and is on a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

. The basin is a circular lagoon-like pool that is across and over at its deepest, travelling about northeast (through

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

) before reaching the ocean in Central Coast. Bents Basin is around 36 km south of Penrith and 56 km south-west of

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

. To the east of the basin is a cleared undulating

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description The most common design provides an area for exercise and is ofte ...

on the

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

soils from the

Wianamatta Shale The Wianamatta Group is a geological feature of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia that directly overlies the older (but still Triassic in age) Hawkesbury sandstone and generally comprise fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales an ...

of the

Cumberland Plain The Cumberland Plain, also known as Cumberland Basin, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. An IBRA biogeographic region, Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term ...

. The Basin adjoins ''Gulguer Nature Reserve'' to the south. Two small creeks exist in the area. Large parts of the reserve are prone to flood. During flood events the basin is either fully closed or partially closed to all water-based activity because of hazardous conditions.

Wildlife

Animals species within the area include the

Common bent-wing bat The common bent-wing bat (''Miniopterus schreibersii''), also known as the Schreibers's long-fingered bat or Schreibers's bat, is a species of insectivorous bat. They appear to have dispersed from a subtropical origin and distributed throughout ...

, sooty owl,

Common wombat The common wombat (''Vombatus ursinus''), also known as the bare-nosed wombat, is a marsupial, one of three extant species of wombats and the only one in the genus ''Vombatus''. It has three subspecies: ''Vombatus ursinus hirsutus'', found on the ...

East-coast free-tailed bat ''Micronomus norfolkensis'' is a species of molossid bat, a family of flying mammals. The bat is endemic to Australia, where it occurs from southeastern Queensland to eastern New South Wales. They are the sole species of genus ''Micronomus'' an ...

powerful owl The powerful owl (''Ninox strenua''), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than inland. The IUCN Red List ...

large-eared pied bat The large-eared pied bat (''Chalinolobus dwyeri'') is a species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It can be found in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, ...

and the glossy black cockatoo. The basin harbours 25 plant communities and around 360 plant species. Hibbertia hermanniifolia and

Eucalyptus benthamii ''Eucalyptus benthamii'', commonly known as Camden white gum, Bentham's gum, Nepean River gum, kayer-ro or durrum-by-ang, is a species of tree that is Endemism, endemic to New South Wales. It has mostly smooth bluish grey or white bark, lance-sha ...

are both rare tree species present in the park. Other plant species include,

Angophora subvelutina ''Angophora subvelutina'', commonly known as the broad-leaved apple, is a species of tree that is endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, lance-shaped to egg-shaped or elliptical adult leaves, flower buds in ...

Eucalyptus pilularis ''Eucalyptus pilularis'', commonly known as blackbutt, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, finely fibrous greyish bark on the lower half of the trunk, smooth white, grey or cream ...

Eucalyptus eugenioides ''Eucalyptus eugenioides'', commonly known as the thin-leaved stringybark or white stringybark, is a species of tree endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small to medium-sized tree with rough stringy bark, lance-shaped to curved adult leaves, Fl ...

Acacia parramattensis ''Acacia parramattensis'', commonly known as Parramatta wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to the Blue Mountains and surrounding regions of New South Wales. It is a tall shrub or tree to about in height with phyllodes (flattened l ...

Backhousia myrtifolia ''Backhousia myrtifolia'' (commonly referred to as ''carrol, neverbreak, iron wood, grey myrtle'' or ''cinnamon myrtle'') is a small rainforest tree species which grows in subtropical rainforests of Eastern Australia. First discovered and subs ...

, Pratia purpurascens.

Asplenium flabellifolium ''Asplenium flabellifolium'' is commonly known as the necklace fern, butterfly fern and walking fern. This small fern occurs in all states of Australia, as well as in New Zealand. It was initially described by Spanish botanist Antonio José Cav ...

Adiantum aethiopicum ''Adiantum aethiopicum'', also known as the common maidenhair fern, is a small fern of widespread distribution, occurring in Africa, Australia, Norfolk Island and New Zealand. ''Adiantum aethiopicum'' was one of the many species first describe ...

, Oplismenus imbecillis,

Cynodon dactylon ''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, also known as couch grass in Australia and New Zealand, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Contra ...

Tristaniopsis laurina ''Tristaniopsis laurina'', the water gum or kanooka, is a tree species native to Australia. It usually grows near the eastern coastline and along the banks of streams, where the trunks and branches tend to be shaped in the direction of the curr ...

Casuarina cunninghamiana ''Casuarina cunninghamiana'', commonly known as river oak, river sheoak or creek oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a tree with fissured and scaly bark, sometimes dr ...

, Microlaena stipoides,

Syncarpia glomulifera ''Syncarpia glomulifera'', commonly known as the turpentine tree, or yanderra, is a tree of the family Myrtaceae native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, which can reach in height. It generally grows on heavier soils. The cream fl ...

Glochidion ferdinandi ''Glochidion'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, known as cheese trees or buttonwood in Australia, and leafflower trees in the scientific literature. It comprises about 170 species, distributed from Madagascar to the Pa ...

and Ceratopetalum apetalum.

Features

The park is popular for swimming,

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, bushwalking, camping (with 100 tent sites), barbecuing, picnicking and fishing. The park also features walking trails within a bushland and an education centre with a commercial kitchen. ''Caley's Lookout Track'', a walking track within the bushland, leads to ''Little Mountain'', a scenic lookout area that is in elevation. Designated facilities can be hired for personal use. Two roads access the park (Bents Basin Road in northwest and Bents Loop Road in the park's east), though only the eastern approach permits access to the camping grounds and education centre. A fee is charged for vehicle access per day.

Drownings

The basin is renowned for its dangerous and powerful undercurrents, which have been known to suck swimmers down to the bottom of the 20 metre lagoon, resulting in a number of serious and fatal drownings in recent years. 12/11/2010 - Two men aged 20 and 27 drown while swimming in the Basin. 26/12/2016 - A 25 year old man drowns while swimming with friends in the Basin. 27/01/2019 - Four men aged in their 20s get into trouble while swimming in the Basin, three of the men are rescued with the fourth drowning. 2/02/2025 - A 5 year old boy drowned while swimming in the Basin. He was given CPR and revived by members of the public, before being taken to hospital by air-ambulance in critical condition. He died there shortly thereafter.

Gallery

File:Bentsbasinsign.jpg, Entrance sign File:Bentsbasin.jpg, The rocky

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

of Nepean River flowing into the Basin (south side) File:Bentsbasinnepean.jpg, Nepean River streaming out of the Basin, going northwards (east side) File:Bentsboardwalk.jpg, The

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

with basin in background File:Bentsbasinrocks.jpg, View from Nepean River's rocky bed, which produces northerly

currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hy ...

(south side) File:Bentsbasinpool.jpg, The swimming hole after a flood File:Bentsbasinbush.jpg, Looking from Nepean River boardwalk (east side)

References

External links

Page at Department of Environment & Conservation (NSW)Bents Basin State Conservation Area, Gulguer Nature Reserve: fire management strategy
{{coord, -33.932, 150.635, format=dms, dim:500_region:AU-NSW_type:landmark, display=title Nature reserves in New South Wales Sydney localities Parks in New South Wales Parks in Sydney Beaches of New South Wales Forests of New South Wales Protected areas established in 1980 Dams completed in 1980 1980 establishments in Australia Lakes of New South Wales Geography of Sydney