Main Content
Bilgola South Headland
Type of park:
Park Features:
Park is suitable for:
Nearby Facilities:
Introduction
A moderately hard walk, 20 leisurely minutes one way. Highlights: coastal vegetation typical of shale based soils, with a scenic lookout point over the magnificent cabbage tree palms of Bilgola Valley.
Environmental Projects in the Area
Coastal heathlands on shale
You may notice that this headland, like most of those north of Long reef Point, is covered with a fine, dark soil. This has come from the shale bedrock, and is more fertile, deeper, and able to hold more water than the soils on the sandstone headlands. You can see for yourself that the better soil conditions on shale headlands makes life easier for the heathland plants - they are usually larger and more vigorous.
And whereas sandstone heaths are noted for their variety of species, on shale you are more likely to find groups of plants of the same kind - such as casuarinas, tea-trees, paperbarks, and bottlebrushes.
Bilgola South Head
Only a narrow strip of coastal headland remains perched on the cliff tops of Bilgola South Head. Major road building has cut the area off almost completely from other bushland.
Although continually at risk of being invaded and over-run by weeds, the heathland battles on and shows some striking features. In spring, look out for the brilliant display of the red bottlebrush flowers at the perched swamp - and in summer, retreat into the shade of the tea-tree and casuarina forests.
The earth moves
As you climb the steep slope northwards off Newport Beach, look out for cracks in the ground. They tell us that this area has been pressured by unusually strong downward forces. If you can imagine what the hillside looked like before the massive road embankment was built, you may realise why the earth has moved.
Holding out the weeds
Dry, salty winds make life hard for coastal plants. As some protection, native plants grow close together. This leaves little clear space for exotic weeds, but if areas are disturbed weeds are able to establish themselves quickly. As you walk away from the road - a typical disturbance - you may notice that there are fewer weeds.
A perched swamp
As you walk, you may notice a change in the height of the coastal vegetation - casuarina trees and bottlebrush shrubs grow in profusion above the lower heathland - but without any apparent reason. There is a reason, however - a subtle change in the underlying land. A slight dip in the landform makes this area the meeting place for natural drainage flows. This, and an impermeable layer of subsoil as a barrier to further drainage, has created a permanently moist area - perfect conditions for bottlebrushes and swamp she-oaks, casuarinas.
Timeless tea trees
These tea trees are exceptionally old compared with others on Sydney's coastal heathlands. They have been lucky - this area has been spared the natural outbreaks of fire common in this kind of vegetation. See how the leaves of the trees form a soft continuous canopy, while the gnarled and twisted trunks tell of the long battles with harsh clifftop winds.
Livistona lookout
Can you see the change in vegetation as you look west into the Bilgola Valley? Cabbage tree palms - Livistonia - follow the valley floor, marking the path of a river which has long since disappeared. These palms occur in isolated pockets in moist, sheltered sites all along Sydney's coast - but the stand you can see is regarded as one of the largest, and finest, examples. Can you tell why the Bilgola Valley is such a good place for cabbage tree palms?
Kangaroo Grass
Kangaroo Grass is one of our native grasses which is a perennial (lives on from year to year). It once was the most common grass cover over much of Australia. Stock-grazing has reduced its distribution quite markedly. Finding kangaroo grass here is another clue to the better growing conditions found on shale soils in coastal heathland.