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Bush Explorers Encyclopaedia

Name:
Gardens of Stone National Park *
Description:

Covers 15,080ha. The irregular boundaries roughly extend in the north to the Glen Davis Road, eastern boundary with the Wollemi National Park, western side to Castlereagh Highway at Ben Bullen and southern side, Sunnyside Ridge Road. The majority of the park is located on the Ben BullenTopo Map. Described by the NPWS as, "Pagoda rock formations cluster near sandstone escarpments, where erosion has sculpted bee hive shaped domes and other forms. Banksia, dwarf casuarinas and other wind pruned heathland plants give the area its garden like appearance. This park forms an important part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area." Stage one of the Gardens of Stone National Park was created on the 29th November 1994. Stage two was proposed by the Colong Foundation in 2005 and is yet to be approved. It will cover an additional area of nearly 40,000ha. Credit is given to Rodney Falconer for coining the name, Gardens of Stone, November 1984. Ref: Correspondence with Rodney Falconer and David Blackwell, March 2010."I gave it the name Gardens of Stone, which stuck, following an October trip during which the place became a flowery garden studded with rock statues (mint bushes and banksias were particularly prolific that season and the scent of massed flowering Calytrix tetragona shrubs was so overwhelming that you were walking through honey coated air for hours on end. As Haydn Washington was in South America at the time, David Blackwell was frantically busy with work and I was in the process of moving to Canberra, we passed it onto the Colong Foundation (of which both Haydn and I were or had been Directors at the time) who did the longer term leg work and saw it into fruition, particularly thanks to Keith Muir with Peter Prineas and Alex Colley giving great support as well." Ref: Correspondence to Michael Keats from Rodney Falconer, 15th March 2010.

Maps:
  • Ben Bullen
  • Glen Alice
Grid Reference:
Location:
Gardens of Stone National Park
Status:
Protected
Related Names:
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Walks:
Photos:
 - Gardens of Stone National Park

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