Balls Head Reserve - Walks

Balls Head Reserve contains many Aboriginal sites including archaeological deposits, middens, art and rock engravings. It’s thought that Balls Head Reserve was a site where men came to perform sacred corroborees to honour their ancestors of the Dreamtime.

Several picnic areas, dedication plaques and foreshore caves dot the area. A historic flagpole is situated 90 metres above sea level, marking the highest point west of the Harbour Bridge. In early settlement times, it was used as means of communication with Government House.

Follow Balls Head Drive from Bay Road off the Pacific Highway at North Sydney. One large carpark on the headland is available for parking. Street parking on Balls Head Road is also available.

By public transport, it’s a five to ten minute walk from Waverton railway station. Turn left and follow Bay Road that leads into Balls Head Road and then into Balls Head Drive.

North Sydney Harbour Foreshore Bushwalk Guide

This reserve contains many Aboriginal sites including middens, art sites and rock engravings. Balls Head is named after Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, Commander of the ship ‘Supply’ in the First Fleet of 1788.

In the early 20th century, Balls Head was proposed for industrial development, however strong public protests led to the peninsula being declared a public parkland in 1926. Balls Head has a long history of environmental rehabilitation. Starting with early tree replanting programs, bush regeneration began in 1980 and the Balls Head Bushcare Group followed in the mid-1990s.