Continue straight: From Whale Rock the track follows the Penant Hills Park arrow along the service trail as it winds through the valley, crossing several small concrete creek crossings until it comes to the signposted intersection of the Pennant Hills ovals service trail.
Continue straight: From the intersection the track follows the Thornleigh via Great North Walk arrow down the short but steep hill and across the river at the causeway. On the other side of the river the track comes up to the intersection of the Great North Walk service trail.
Turn left: From the intersection, this walk follows the ‘Thornleigh Station’ sign
[1] past the ‘Lane Cove Valley’ map, initially keeping the other trail and river to your left. The trail follows the valley floor, keeping the river just to your left, for a bit over 500m, to then cross the Lane Cove River at a rocky ford
[2]. This crossing may become impassable after heavy or prolonged rain. On the other side of the river, this walk continues along the trail
[3] for about 400m (with the river now close by on your right) to come to an intersection with a faint track
[4] (on your left, that leads up towards Pennant Hills Park).
Continue straight: From the intersection, the walk follows the management trail, keeping the river just to your right. After about 60m, the trail bends right and crosses the Lane Cove River at a rocky ford
[5], then continues along the valley floor among the fern trees (and concrete pipe access points
[6]) for about 900m to cross the Lane Cove River again at another rocky ford
[7]. (These crossings may become impassable after heavy or prolonged rain). The trail then continues along the valley floor
[8] (with the river now on your left) for just over 150m to come to an intersection at the bottom of the sealed Morona Ave trail
[9] (on your right), marked with a ‘Lane Cove Valley’ map/sign
[10] and a GNW arrow post
[11].
Veer left: From the intersection, this walk follows the GNW arrow post along the valley floor, away from the two trails, keeping the river just to your left. The track soon narrows, leading past a water depth indicator
[12], and becomes rocky for about 150m before coming to a faint intersection, where GNW arrow post points left
[13]. Here, the walk turns left and crosses the Lane Cove River using the concrete stepping stones
[14] (this crossing may become impassable after heavy or prolonged rain) to follow the ‘Thornleigh Station’ sign
[15] up the timber steps for about 40m and find a GNW registration box
[16] (damaged at time of writing). The track bends sharply right
[17] and zigzags up the rocky hill for another 30m, before bending sharply left to find the ‘Conscript Pass’ and ‘B Stevens’
[18][19] engravings (at the third metal hand rail).
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