Karloo Track

Moderate

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A 10km grade-3 walk from Heathcote station through heathland to Karloo Pool and on to Uloola Falls, a well-used interior route in Royal National Park.

☰ Trail details

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Distance

4.15 km

Est. time

1 hr 22 min

Elevation gain

189 m

Route type

Out & back

Steepest stretch: +49m over ~300m (around the 2.4km mark)

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In an emergency

Call 000 for police, fire or ambulance — Australia's emergency number works even with a weak signal, and without a SIM if any carrier has coverage.

You're in Royal National Park, Heathcote, Royal NP, NSW. Mobile reception in this area is not guaranteed — this is exactly why the offline map and GPS position on this page work without signal.

Tell someone your plan and expected return time before you set off. A PLB is the most reliable backup where there's no reception at all.

Tracks & plans

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About this hike

The Karloo Track cuts through Royal National Park's sandstone interior from Heathcote station, a route used by day walkers since the park's earliest decades as one of the few interior tracks that doesn't hug the coast. At 10km and NPWS-graded 3, it crosses open heathland typical of the park's Hawkesbury sandstone plateau before dropping to Karloo Pool, a popular swimming spot on Kangaroo Creek, then continuing on to Uloola Falls. The heath here flowers heavily through winter and spring, and the contrast between exposed tableland and shaded creek gully is part of what makes the walk worthwhile. Because it starts from a train station rather than a car park, it's one of the more transport-friendly long walks in the park.

Species to look for on this trail

Ancient trees and rare flora confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

Cabbage Tree Palm

Livistona australis

Iconic Sydney-region rainforest palm▾

Iconic Sydney-region rainforest palm

A tall fan palm whose fibre was used by early European settlers to weave the 'cabbage tree hat,' a distinctive colonial-era headwear. It grows in sheltered gullies within both Ku-ring-gai Chase and Royal National Parks.

How to spot it

A palm to around 25m with dark, glossy green, fan-plaited leaves on petioles up to 2m long. Cream-white flower spikes appear in summer, with fruit ripening from red to black.

Family Arecaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park; Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Coastal Rosemary

Westringia fruticosa

Coastal heathland shrub▾

Coastal heathland shrub

A hardy coastal shrub named among the coastal heathland plants of Royal National Park, valued in cultivation for its whorled foliage and year-round white flowering.

How to spot it

A rounded shrub with neatly whorled, small leaves. White, hairy flowers with orange-to-purple spotting on the lower petal appear year-round, on plants tolerant of salt-laden coastal winds and cliff-top exposure.

Family Lamiaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Old Man Banksia

Banksia serrata

One of Joseph Banks' original four Banksia species▾

One of Joseph Banks' original four Banksia species

One of the four original Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770, and named among the open-forest shrubs of Royal National Park's valley sides.

How to spot it

Wrinkled grey bark, often blackened by fire. Shiny dark green serrated leaves 7-20cm long, and large yellow or greyish-yellow flower spikes over summer, followed by gnarled grey woody seed pods.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Hairpin Banksia

Banksia spinulosa

Common understorey shrub▾

Common understorey shrub

A multi-stemmed understorey banksia named among the open-forest shrubs of Royal National Park, valued ecologically as an important pollinator plant across its wide range from Victoria to Queensland.

How to spot it

A lignotuberous shrub 1-3m tall with long, narrow leaves. Cylindrical flower spikes 6-15cm tall in yellow to golden-orange, with distinctive hooked (rather than straight) styles that can be black, maroon, pink or yellow.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Blueberry Ash

Elaeocarpus reticulatus

Fringed-flower rainforest-margin tree▾

Fringed-flower rainforest-margin tree

A shrub or small tree named among the rainforest-margin plants of Royal National Park's valley floors, bearing fringed white or pink flowers followed by blue fruit that are an important food source for native birds.

How to spot it

Oblong-to-elliptic leaves 50-130mm long with regular teeth and prominent veining. Racemes of white or pinkish fringed flowers appear October to January, followed by distinctive blue, oval-to-spherical drupes around 12mm long.

Family Elaeocarpaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Grey Spider Flower

Grevillea buxifolia

NSW sandstone endemic▾

NSW sandstone endemic

A NSW-endemic grevillea named among the open-forest shrubs of Royal National Park, with distinctive woolly, spider-like flower clusters that flower through most of the year.

How to spot it

An erect to spreading shrub 0.5-2m tall with egg-shaped to elliptic leaves 7-35mm long. Woolly flower clusters in rust, fawn or whitish tones give the 'spider flower' its name, developing into hairy oval fruit 18-22mm long.

Family Proteaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Scribbly Gum

Eucalyptus haemastoma

Sydney sandstone icon▾

Sydney sandstone icon

A Sydney-region eucalypt named among the sandstone forest of Royal National Park, instantly recognisable for the 'scribbles' etched into its bark by the larvae of a small moth.

How to spot it

White to silvery-grey bark covered in prominent squiggly insect 'scribbles,' caused by Ogmograptis moth larvae tunnelling under the bark as it is shed. Grows to 12-15m on shallow sandy soils derived from sandstone, in a range running from Lake Macquarie down to Royal National Park.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Eucalyptus haemastoma; Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Sydney Red Gum

Angophora costata

Sandstone valley-side icon▾

Sandstone valley-side icon

A smooth-barked eucalypt relative named among the valley-side open forest of Royal National Park, known for its sinuous, salmon-pink trunks that weather to grey.

How to spot it

Smooth bark shedding in small scales, pinkish or orange-brown when fresh and weathering to grey, often on a strikingly twisted trunk. Lance-shaped opposite leaves and white-to-creamy flowers in groups of three from October to December.

Family Myrtaceae · Source: Wikipedia: Royal National Park

Wildlife you might see on this trail

Animals confirmed in this park. Spot one? Add it as a sighting pin below.

New Zealand Fantail

Rhipidura fuliginosa

Extinct — NSW: Extinct▾

Extinct — NSW: Extinct

The New Zealand fantail is a small insectivorous bird, the only species of fantail in New Zealand. It has four subspecies: R. f. fuliginosa in the South Island, R. f. placabilis in the North Island, R. f. penita in the Chatham Islands, and the now-extinct R. f. cervina formerly on Lord Howe Island. It is also known by its Māori names, pīwakawaka, tīwakawaka or piwaiwaka, and the Chatham Island subspecies by the Moriori name tchitake; the common pied morph is also known as pied fantail, and the uncommon dark morph is also known as black fantail. The species has been considered by many to be conspecific as the grey fantail of Australia and New Caledonia; however, due to significant differences in its calls, many authorities now treat it as a separate species.

How to spot it

Real occurrence confirmed near Royal National Park (Atlas of Living Australia, 1976) — no separate physical description was available on Wikipedia for this species, see the source link for more.

Family Rhipiduridae · Source: Atlas of Living Australia + Wikipedia: Rhipidura fuliginosa

Powerful owl

Ninox strenua

Vulnerable (NSW & Vic); IUCN Least Concern▾

Vulnerable (NSW & Vic); IUCN Least Concern

The powerful owl is Australia's largest owl, an apex forest predator of south-eastern Australia that feeds mostly on tree-dwelling possums and gliders. Though secure globally, it's listed as vulnerable in New South Wales and Victoria because it depends on large, hollow-bearing old-growth trees for nesting, which logging and land clearing keep removing.

How to spot it

A big owl, 45-65cm long with a wingspan over a metre, dark grey-brown above with bold white V-shaped barring below and a hawk-like long-tailed silhouette in flight. Listen at dusk for the male's slow, far-carrying double hoot ('whoo-hooo'); by day it roosts quietly in tall forest trees, sometimes with the remains of a possum cached on a branch below.

Family Strigidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: JJ Harrison (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Lace monitor

Varanus varius

IUCN Least Concern — common eastern forest goanna▾

IUCN Least Concern — common eastern forest goanna

The lace monitor is one of Australia's largest and most familiar goannas, a highly arboreal predator and scavenger found throughout the forests of eastern Australia from Cape York to south-eastern South Australia.

How to spot it

A big goanna (up to 2m, occasionally more) — most commonly dark grey-black with cream spots and a banded tail, though some individuals ('Bell's phase') show broad yellow-and-black bands instead. Confident and inquisitive around campsites and picnic areas, where it will readily investigate food; often seen climbing tree trunks head-first when approached, active mainly between September and May.

Family Varanidae · Source: Wikipedia

Photo: Bidgee (CC BY-SA 3.0 Australia) via Wikimedia Commons