Visit places of culture, heritage and environmental value in NSW
Our NSW national parks and reserves are full of cultural heritage places and landscapes reflecting the state’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history.
For tens of thousands of years different Aboriginal peoples cared for the land and practised important cultural activities to maintain the stories of the land for the future. The cultural practices of Aboriginal people were disrupted when settlers first came to an area. Physical reminders of both the Aboriginal and settler histories are still present in the forms of stone tools, occupation sites, the remains of fence lines and huts.
DECC in partnership with Aboriginal communities has undertaken numerous projects to conserve heritage places, including projects that aim to sustain and invigorate Aboriginal culture in the present. Some of these include helping to return Aboriginal remains and sacred objects to the Aboriginal community, helping Aboriginal people practise their cultural activity on Country, helping communities renew connections to, and knowledge of, Country and culture. Many of the cultural camps organised by Aboriginal communities to pass on traditional knowledge and skills to their young people take place in national parks, sometimes at locations that have been especially designated for this purpose.
The depth of our history has resulted in a range of communities having both diverse and shared values and associations with national parks, botanic gardens and other protected areas. The heritage managed by DECC includes the physical fabric of the 1860s gold rush town of Hill End, complexes of buildings such as those at the Quarantine Station at Sydney’s North Head, historic roads and bridges, moveable heritage collections, rock art such as the fantastic rock engravings near West Head in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, and even places of more recent history such as the site of the 1997 Thredbo Landslide.
If you would like to experience a part of Aboriginal culture, sign up for an Aboriginal-led Discovery tour in a national park. Why not try the fascinating bush food walk at Myall Lakes National Park or some traditional Bundjalung games at Lennox Head.