Dharawal National Park

Dharawal National Park, located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, covers an impressive 6,508 hectares and is situated between the Illawarra Range and the Georges River.

The park can be accessed via three entry points including Darkes Forest, Wedderburn, and Appin. The park covers almost both the O’Hares and Stokes Creek catchments, with both areas of biodiversity and significant cultural and Aboriginal sites.

The park is named after the Dharawal community, who have lived in the area for more than 15,000 years. The Dharawal community once occupied the area from the southern shores of Botany Bay, south to the Shoalhaven River, and northwest to Camden. There are many archaeological sites within and surrounding the Dharawal National Park, estimated at around 15,000 over the Woronora Plateau.

Dharawal National Park is located on the southern rim of the Sydney Basin, with the majority of the Dharawal region part of the Nepean Ramp sub-region of the plateau, while the Macdonald region is located in the west. The park is part of a larger protected area, which includes Royal National Park, Budderoo, and Morton National Parks, and the Greater Blue Mountains Area. The park has 13 vegetation communities ranging from sandstone woodland to eastern gully forest. The region's climate is classified as temperate with average annual rainfall ranging from 850 to 1,550 millimetres.

The park's upland swamps, which are considered to be the most species-rich in the world for shrub/sedge vegetation, host over 140 plant species. The park is of