Cumberland State Forest

In our efforts to go somewhere new we decided to take a picnic lunch and visit Cumberland State Forest which is in Pennant Hills which wasn't that far away.

This park is amongst the residential area and is forty hectares of walking trails, picnic areas and barbecue facilities, an information centre, nursery and cafe.

We initially visited the visitors centre which is unmanned but provides information about the types of tree in the park and the timber milling processes used over the last century.  The mainly outdoor cafe was a very popular venue, with live music as it was Sunday.

Visitors centre and cafe

It was very tempting to join but we had bought a lunch with us and Peter had decided he wanted to barbecue some lovely sausages for himself (I never eat sausages so he only needed to cook two) so instead we set up with lots of other family groups and really enjoyed the facilities.

Peter at BBQ

The nursery is quite large and grows and sells native plants only.

Nursery

After lunch we completed two of the signed walks - the trails wander up and down the gullies through the forest and the rainforest.  There were lots of birds about and we understand that the park management runs lots of activities including guided walks and talks, early morning bird breakfasts, and night time animal spotlight tours.

 

In addition consent has just been given by the Council to establish a tree top adventure high ropes course.  There has been a lot of public disagreement over the establishment is facility a many people think that Cumberland State Park should be retained in its natural setting without the increase in commercial activity with the accompanying increase in traffic etc.

It had been hoped that the venture would have been completed by mid 2013 but building has not been started as yet.  This adventure park, along with the Wet n Wild we saw being built in Blacktown will provide families and visitors with great entertainment opportunities, albeit at quite a cost.  We will have to pay another visit next year or soon after to see if the park has been established.