The Nattai National Park is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

located in the

Macarthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

and Southern Highlands regions of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The area is situated approximately southwest of the

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 ...

and primarily encompasses the valley of the

Nattai River The Nattai River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury- Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Nattai River rises on the Mittagong Range within the Great ...

, which is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Part of the Southern Highlands Shale Forest and Woodland, the park is covered in dry

sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...

(hard-leafed) forest – mostly

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

, and has frequent forest fires. As of May 2024, the park has no facilities. The Nattai National Park is one of the eight protected areas that, in 2000, was inscribed to form part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

-listed

Greater Blue Mountains Area The Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site located in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The area was placed on the World Heritage List at the List of World Heritage Sites by year ...

. The Nattai National Park is the most southern of the eight protected areas within the World Heritage Site. The national park forms part of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

. The national park is bounded to the north by the Nattai State Conservation Area, the Burragorang State Conservation Area, and

Lake Burragorang Lake Burragorang is a man-made reservoir in the lower Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, serving as a major water supply for greater metropolitan Sydney. The dam impounding the lake, the Warragamba Dam, is located approximately sout ...

, inclusive of a exclusion zone surrounding the

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

; to the east by the Bargo State Conservation Area and the now partly disused

Picton – Mittagong loop railway line Picton may refer to: Places Australia *Picton, New South Wales, Australia * Picton, Western Australia, an industrial suburb of Bunbury * Picton East, Western Australia, a locality in the Shire of Dardanup * Picton River, a river that joins the Huo ...

; to the south by the Wombeyan Caves Road; to the southwest by the

Kanangra-Boyd National Park The Kanangra-Boyd National Park is a state park, protected national park that is located in the Central Tablelands region, west of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands and Macarthur (New South Wales), Macarthur regions, in ...

; and to the west by the Yerranderie State Conservation Area.

Blue Mountains National Park The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of the Sydney CBD, and the park boundary is ...

does not directly adjoin the Nattai National Park, but is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Burragorang. The Nattai National Park contains much of the

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

and catchment of the Little, Nattai, Allum and

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is part of the Macarthur and Blue Mountains regions. The Wol ...

rivers.

History

The area now known as Nattai National Park has had a limited impact from Europeans. Several early expeditions attempting to cross the Blue Mountains passed through the area at the end of the 18th century, and settlers settled in the lower Nattai and Burragorang Valleys in 1827. Early conservationists Myles Dunphy and Herb Gallop went on bushwalks in the region from 1912 onward. An area of note was a forest of ''

Eucalyptus saligna ''Eucalyptus saligna'', commonly known as the Sydney blue gum or blue gum, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is Endemism, endemic to eastern Australia. It has rough, flaky bark near the base of the trunk, smooth bark above, lance-s ...

,'' commonly referred to as Sydney blue gum around Blue Gum Creek which was held in high regard. Dunphy lobbied for the stand to be preserved upon becoming aware of plans to log the area but was unsuccessful, and the area was logged in the 1920s and 30s. Dunphy put forward a plan for a Greater Blue Mountains National Park, which incorporated what is now Nattai National Park in the southeast in 1932. The creation of

Warragamba Dam Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supp ...

in 1960 limited access for the development of land upstream, but it was not until 1991 that plans for permanent protection and national park status looked to become realized.

Access

The national park can be accessed via Wattle Ridge Fire Road, located northeast of the small town of Hill Top. Access to a small, unsealed car park situated at the edge of the park is through an unsealed road. There are no facilities available except for an information board and a logbook. Visitors are required to sign in and out of the logbook when entering and exiting the park. Alternate access is via the Wombeyan Caves Road.

Activities

Bushwalking

Nattai National Park has several bushwalk trails. Backpack camping is allowed, with a remote campground by the Nattai River known as Emitts Flat at the end of the Starlights Trail. The difficulties on the park's trails include: limited mobile reception, all trails requiring bushwalking experience and encounters with wildlife, such as snakes or wombats, being common.

Trails

; The Starlights Trail: Starlights Trail is a scenic bushwalk in Nattai National Park, part of the Greater Blue Mountains trail network between Mittagong and Katoomba in Country NSW. Designed for experienced hikers, the trail spans 11 kilometers round trip and typically takes 4 to 5 hours to complete. It is classified as a Grade 4 hike, indicating a challenging route through varied landscapes in the Sydney surrounds. ; Russells Needle: An extension of Starlights Trail from Emmetts Flat south along the Nattai River to a tall rock spire. ; Katoomba to Mittagong Trail: A long-distance trail starting in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area – in length. ; Couridjah Corridor walk: Couridjah Corridor Walk is a 14-kilometer return trail that traverses both Thirlmere Lakes National Park and Nattai National Park in Sydney and surrounds, Country NSW. This trail is ideal for hiking, bushwalking, and birdwatching. The walk typically takes between 4 and 6 hours to complete and is classified as a Grade 4 hike, indicating a challenging route suited for experienced hikers.

Climbing

References

External links

Free online topographic maps of Nattai – NSW Dept of Lands Spatial PortalTrack notes
with a topographical map for Russells Needle via Slott Way Track and Starlight Track {{authority control National parks of New South Wales Protected areas established in 1991 1991 establishments in Australia Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Macarthur (New South Wales) Southern Highlands (New South Wales)