Royal National Park is located 29 kilometres south of Sydney. Officially established in April 1879, it is the second oldest national park in the world after Yellowstone in the United States. Originally, this specially protected area was called simply "National Park", but in 1955, the word "Royal" was added to the name in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, who had travelled through the area the year before during her visit to Australia. In 2006, the park was listed as a National Heritage Site in Australia.
There are several settlements within the park - Audley, Mayanbar and Bandina, which are accessible by motorway.
As in any other national park, the Royal Park has a number of hiking trails, barbecue and picnic areas. On specially marked mountain biking is allowed on specially marked paths, and the traffic on these paths is two-way. One of the most popular routes is the two-day trek along the seashore from Bandina to Norse Era with an overnight stay in a tent.
The landscape of the Royal National Park is very varied, from coastal cliffs eroded by sea waves and small cosy bays to ancient high plateaus and deep river valleys. Rivers flowing from south to north, flow into the wide but shallow Port Hacking Bay, which is the park's northern boundary. The sandy beaches open to the ocean and are a great place to swim and and surfing. Some beaches can be accessed by road, others only after several hours of hiking.
The park's flora is as diverse as its topography. On the exposed heathlands and coastal areas one can see rosemary, darwinia, casuarina, dewberry and others. On the tops of ancient sand dunes there are silver banksia, large-fruited oak and heather. Among these thickets honeycreepers, fire-tailed amadins and Southern soft-tailed robins. The coastal rainforest, which has survived the human invasions of the 19th and 20th centuries, Australian tea tree and long-leaved lomandra dominate.
The river valley slopes are dominated by eucalyptus, pines, red blood trees, and of the shrubs, banksia, aralia, and peppermint. There are also orchids, wild lilies, irises and hundreds of other amazingly beautiful flowers. The river valleys are favoured by many birds of prey - golden whistlers, yellow-tailed cockatoos, laughing cockatoos, honeyeaters and others. Among the animals here you can mountain kangaroos, echidnas, koalas, wild dingo dogs.
The Royal National Park contains several buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries: for example, the town of Audley still has a wooden dance hall built about a hundred years ago, and on the western edge of the dam there is a huge wooden boat shed, listed as a national treasure. At Cape Jibbon, from which there is a fine view of the peninsula of Sutherland, where Aboriginal cave paintings have been found, was once the site of initiation rites. And near Karrakarong, just off the coast, you can see a huge rock in the shape of an eagle's head.
