Lane Cove National Park is a small national park located within metropolitan Sydney, Australia. The park is located about ten kilometres (6 mi) north-west of the Sydney CBD. The park consists of land near the banks of the Lane Cove River, which rises near Hornsby and flows generally south-east into Port Jackson.
The park includes areas of land which are part of Ku-Ring-Gai, Ryde, and Hornsby local government areas with small areas of the park in Willoughby, Lane Cove and Hunter's Hill local government area on the banks of the lower reaches of the river. The park is surrounded on all sides by developed suburban areas and except for the upper northwestern region is never more than a kilometre (3,280 ft) wide. Much of the park is of fairly rugged terrain on the slopes of the river valley and covered by dense bush. The characteristics of the bush vary depending upon soils and topography, historical logging and clearing and accessibility. Parts of the park are affected by weed infestations.
The central section of the park, between De Burghs Bridge on Ryde Road and Fullers Bridge, was set aside as a park in the 1920s and developed with picnic areas interspersed in the bush along the banks of the river. The majority of these picnic areas are located between the Fuller's Road bridge and the road that leads towards the Tourist Park. North of this point the area becomes more rugged and there are no picnic areas until the Tunks Hill (previously known as Tunks Farm) area which is away from the river behind the garden nursery on Lane Cove Road. A weir was constructed near Fullers Bridge which converted the middle section of the river from tidal salt-water to a fresh-water area with constant water level suitable for recreational use in rowing boats and canoes. This area was managed by a trust and was called Lane Cove River Park. In 1982, the NSW Government took over direct control of the park which was then called Lane Cove Regional Park. Various nearby areas of undeveloped government land near the river upstream and downstream from the central area of the park were added to the park. It became a National Park in 1992. An area around Pennant Hills Park has also been added to the National Park. A fish ladder has been constructed next to the weir to enable native bass to access the freshwater breeding grounds upstream of the weir. Fishing is allowed in parts of the river but the area from just below the weir to around area 21 fishing is prohibited as this is the main breeding area. The Lane Cove National Park is very popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists as the road through the park (Riverside Drive) is generally only lightly used by vehicles and the only alternative road, Delhi Road is a steep narrow road with high speed traffic. The Lane Cove River Tourist Park, operated by National Parks of NSW, is located within Lane Cove National Park.
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