Construction has begun on the Great Southern Walk, a new multi-day track that will take walkers on a 67-kilometre adventure from southern Sydney and into the northern Illawarra.
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NSW Environment Minister James Griffin said work was underway on the first section of the track on the Illawarra Escarpment, linking Bald Hill with Stanwell Park.
"This is such an exciting project for NSW because it will be five-day experience like no other, traversing a spectacular route from Sydney's Kamay Botany Bay National Park, along the coastline of Royal National Park, then down to Bulli Tops in the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area," Mr Griffin said.
"Our NSW national parks already attract more than 60 million visits a year, and we know that more people are looking for unique, multi-day adventures in nature, which this walk will deliver."
The Great Southern Walk is a five-day, four-night journey through stunning coastal scenery and places of national heritage significance.
Existing walking trails through National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) areas will be upgraded and new tracks created to link different areas by 2024.
New camping and accommodation facilities, which will allow people to stay in cabins or "glamping" sites at the end of each day's hike, are earmarked for sites along the route.
"This is all about helping people get into nature because as the great David Attenborough said, no one will protect what they don't care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced," Mr Griffin said.
Member for Heathcote Lee Evans said the new walk would also support Aboriginal owned businesses.
"An Expression of Interest process is underway to provide opportunities for Aboriginal people to bring visitors onto Country and showcase local culture," he said.
"The NSW Government is seeking an Aboriginal owned business or an operator partnering with the Aboriginal community to deliver multi-day walking experiences that connect Great Southern Walk visitors with the world's oldest living culture."
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
