This station to station section of the Great North Walk is a bit of a Sydney walkers institution. It’s one of the hillier walks in Ku-ring-gai National Park and offers enough of a challenge that you feel you’ve had a good work out, but not so hard that most people couldn’t take it on.

The highlight of the whole walk is the incredibly picturesque Jerusalem Bay, which makes a great spot for a mid walk swim. However, only half of the walk is a real gem, with the other half being on fire trail, so you do have to bear that in mind if you’re only an occasional hiker.

Other trails nearby such as the Berowra Track are pretty throughout. We always enjoy this walk though, and would recommend it if you don’t mind that a large portion is on fire trail.

Here’s what to expect from the track.

The Jerusalem Bay Track

The stats

Distance: 14.4km
Elevation: 482m
Difficulty: Moderate - hard
Type of trail: One way

The full Jerusalem Bay Track (Cowan to Brooklyn) is one of the harder walks in Ku-ring-gai National Park, and combines distance with some steep sections. You’ll feel this one in your legs the next day!

One thing to watch out for is the trains from Hawkesbury River Train Station only run once per hour so you want to time it fairly well, or plan to grab some food in Brooklyn. You should allow at least four hours for the whole trail.

Which direction to choose

We’ve always chosen to walk this trail from Cowan to Brooklyn. It does mean that you do the prettiest half of the walk first, rather than finish on a bang.

The reason we still prefer it in this direction is that you get all the major climbing done at the beginning when your legs are fresher.

A secondary benefit is that there are a few places to grab food in Brooklyn, so you can treat yourself at the end of the walk!

What to expect on the track

Starting the trail from Cowan Train Station

If you are coming by train from the city, then you’ll need to cross the track to find the start of the trail. There’s a crossing at the southern end of the platforms where the signs for the trail begin.

You’ll walk briefly alongside the railway line and over the motorway before entering Ku-ring-gai National Park, from the train station to the start of the bush is only 200m!

The trail is briefly flat, before you start a fairly steep descent towards Jerusalem Bay.

It’s quite a rocky track, never a scramble, but very uneven so you do need to watch your footing a bit. Keep your eyes out on the right for a secret side trail!

Downhill section before the aboriginal engravings

A brief side trip to some Aboriginal engravings

There is an unmarked path which you reach 750m into the walk. The best way to identify it is when the bush track comes to a small open solid rock with a narrow gap which the creek flows through.

Less than 30 seconds beyond this there is a narrow bush track to your right. It’s quite overgrown but it is just 100m long so it’s well worth doing. You’ll soon arrive at a huge open rock shelf.

Follow it to the end and you’ll find the engravings. There is nothing marking them and nothing to stop you walking on them so you have to look really carefully to protect them!

They aren’t in amazing condition when compared so some of the ones we’ve seen in Ku-ring-gai National Park but you can definitely make a couple out. We spotted a kangaroo and what I think was a ginormous turtle!

We always love to find new engraving sites and discover a little more of Sydney’s Indigenous history so we’d definitely recommend making the short diversion.

Heading down to Jerusalem Bay

Back on the main trail and you come to a particularly dense and green patch of forest, and you will start to get some glimpses of the creek through the trees to your right.

It’s a really pretty stretch of track and we heard lots of black cockatoos along this part of the walk.

The trail begins to flatten out and after 2.2km you’ll start to have more open views of Cowan Creek. You have a bit more descending to do to reach the creek but it’s not as rocky as the first bit of the walk.

This is my favourite part of the whole trail, and both the forest and creek views make for a really tranquil and relaxing walk. It felt like a little patch of rainforest as it was so green and lush in all directions.

You’ll reach Jerusalem Bay just before you hit the 3km mark and this is definitely the highlight of the track.

The bay is gorgeous and when you catch it on a sunny day the two tone water colour and the iconic huge palm tree look even more spectacular. Sadly it was gloomy on our most recent walk but hopefully you get the gist!

Jerusalem Bay makes for a lovely picnic spot, the best along the track, and a great place to take a dip before continuing on. Access to the water is pretty easy with a bank that gently slopes towards the shore.

Incidentally if you love this spot and decide that you’d like to hang out here for the day, you can follow the bush track behind Jerusalem Bay (not the one you have just walked) to make a short loop track back to Cowan Station.

The climb….

Now for the hard part as you’re about to do over half the elevation of the whole trail in one short section.

On leaving Jerusalem Bay you have a few hundred metres lazily following the bay on a relatively flat path before you begin the ascent. On a hot day it’s a bit of a killer. We found it much easier walking it in the winter recently.

The path is quite steep and fairly unforgiving for the most part (it also seems to go on and on and on!). The first bit of the climb is on large rocky stairs.

After a couple of hundred metres there’s a bench if you want a break - at this point you have climbed 90m elevation.

You then have a short bit of flat track, which is good for getting your breath back, before the climb continues on a rougher track than before. You will climb another 70m before the track flattens again.

Then you are treated to another short flat section before the roughest part of the climb begins. It’s a bit rubbly but not exactly a scramble as you don’t have to use your hands.

The scramble up on the Cowan to Brooklyn trail

There isn’t really any exposure, so it’s not a scary rough track by any means, but it’s definitely more of a rock pile than a path! At the top of the rubble you’ll find another bench, and at this point you have climbed 210m total.

After this point the track flattens for a while and you’ll walk along a narrow path which was lined with little pink flowers on our visit.

…and then the descent

Yep this is one of those trails that undulates in a big way. It feels like no sooner have you made a fairly big climb, then you’ll begin walking all the way back down again! As with the first part of the track, this descent is rocky and uneven, I’d say even more so than the beginning.

There was one point where I had to use my hands as well, but probably more so because I am unsteady on my feet going down. When any rocks are really big, there are footholds cut into them to help.

Scrambling down on the Jerusalem Bay Trail

After crossing the creek you’ll then have a bit more climbing to do before you reach another of my favourite parts of the track.

The path flattens and you get some great views from the narrow trail over a sea of gum trees. There are also some great swirly rock formations to your left, and lots of rocks you can sit on and soak up the views.

Climbing up to the fire trail

You have one last climb to go before you reach the fire trail. This one is smaller than the others though at only 35m elevation gain.

It’s quite rocky again, with one very short section which has a few metal rungs to get you up (it’s not difficult though).

After just a couple of hundred metres you will reach the fire trail, at this point you’ve climbed 350m total elevation, so you’ll see that the majority of the climbing is all over in the first half of the walk.

The fire trail is generally an easy walk but nowhere near as beautiful as the first half of the hike.

The fire trail to Brooklyn Dam

This part of the track does undulate, but for the most part it’s fairly gentle and the terrain is much better, so whilst it is not such an interesting part of the walk, it is quite relaxing.

At first you’ll notice some road noise which is quite jarring after the bush, but it quickly fades away - or maybe I zoned out from it! Either way it didn’t bother me after a while.

The track is lined with bush on both sides and after 2km you’ll get your first view of the Hawkesbury River and the picturesque Brooklyn Bridge.

The trail will then start heading fairly steeply downhill. There is an unmarked left turn which leads you to an unofficial view of the Hawkesbury River.

It’s the second turn you’ll see after you start the descent, the first has views but they are heavily obstructed by trees.

As you continue heading downhill you’ll get a couple more views of the Brooklyn Bridge before you come out at Brooklyn Dam - which by our Applewatch is at the 11km mark - the distance that ParksNSW says the whole trail is!

Heading to Brooklyn (Hawkesbury River) Train Station

The next part of the walk continues on fire trail but it feels a bit more bushy and I liked it more than the earlier part of the track.

You get some great views of the Hawkesbury River and bushland which are obscured by trees but still lovely.

We were walking this bit at sunset which was absolutely beautiful and really added to the scene.

The track does undulate with a few small hills, which were not very welcome when we realised we had 3km left to walk and only 40 minutes to catch the train!

It’s worth noting that trains from Brooklyn to Sydney leave just once an hour, so you don’t really want to miss it - unless you’re going to eat in Brooklyn which is probably a nice idea to make this walk more leisurely and less reliant on catching a specific train.

After a couple of kilometres you’ll come to a sign post: the main trail to the station is off to the right and is marked as being 1.3km away.

We took the trail that was slightly to the left instead, as it is 300m shorter, which is about the amount of time we needed to make up the time to catch the train (the prospect of waiting for an hour on an open platform in the winter was not enticing at all!).

This trail has a fairly steep descent most of the way, the first part of which is a bit slippery. It also has a couple of great views, before you pop out on the pavement beside the road, which is then just minutes to the station, or the town.

We made our train with literally no time to spare! We ran straight on to it, which was perfect timing, but made the last part of the walk a bit stressful. Next time I’d just plan to stay in Brooklyn to eat instead, and not have to worry!

Overall the last part of the walk has a few great views but is otherwise not the most exciting of trails, the first half definitely makes up for it though!

You can compare it to other walks in the area, in our post on the best walks in Ku-ring-gai National Park.

Packing suggestions for Jerusalem Bay

Having the right gear can make a huge difference. Here’s what we pack and have relied upon for years:

Sunscreen: Cancer Council Active. With a high SPF, but not the greasy feel of other sunscreens. Makes a big difference when you’re working up a sweat on a sunny day! Check it out on Amazon
Good Rain Jacket: North Face This is an essential item we always pack in our bag! This jacket from North Face is designed to keep you dry but also comfortably warm (many rain jackets will make you feel like you’re in a sauna). Check it out on Amazon
Bushman Spray: Good for keeping off the mozzies and any other bugs. Check it out on Amazon.
Day Pack: Osprey Talon 22 (we’ve owned this for years). Check on Amazon or direct with Osprey
Hiking Boots: Merrell Moab (for men and women). We’ve both used these for over three years and they just keep going. Check them out on Amazon
Trekking poles: We’ve used Black Diamond for years as they are light, solid and durable. Check them out on Amazon.
Reusable water bottle: To avoid single-use plastic. Check them out on Amazon

Essential information about the Jerusalem Bay Track

Public transport to and from the trail heads

This trail is pretty straightforward to do by public transport, but the trains aren’t too frequent. Both Cowan and Hawkesbury River Train Stations are on the Northern Line, with trains directly from Central Station. However they aren’t too frequent, so make sure you check the timetable before you go.

It takes about one hour to go from Central to Cowan and about 10-15 minutes more to go to Hawkesbury River Train Station.

Parking for the walk

Both Hawkesbury River and Cowan Stations have free parking, so driving to one station and catching the train back to your car is an option. Cowan is a 45 minute drive from the city and Brooklyn is about an hour.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.