Paddling in Dharug National Park

Dharug National Park sits on rugged sandstone country north of the Hawkesbury River, roughly an hour northwest of Sydney near Wisemans Ferry.

The paddling here is river paddling — broad, tidal-influenced water flanked by sandstone escarpment — rather than whitewater or open-coast touring.

The park protects a stretch of landscape where creek systems drain south toward the Hawkesbury, and the river itself forms the park's southern boundary. The Hawkesbury River is the primary water.

Canoe and kayak access lets paddlers move through country that is otherwise dense bush, reading the same cliffs and ridgelines that defined this place long before the convict-built Old Great North Road was cut through it in the 1820s.

The river is wide and the currents are tidal in character — flatwater touring rather than technical paddling. Mill Creek campground sits inside the park and is a practical base for paddlers wanting to be on the water across multiple days.

Camping here puts you close to the river without the drive back to Wisemans Ferry. The park falls under NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service management; confirm any applicable permits or access requirements with them directly, as rules can change.

What the park gives a paddler that a free-flowing public stretch of the Hawkesbury doesn't is the quiet.

The sandstone walls, the gliders calling after dark from camp, the absence of development — that's the reason to be here on the water rather than somewhere easier to reach.