Sheldon Forest is a pocket of urban bushland located north-west of Sydney, Australia in a narrow valley between

Turramurra Turramurra is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. It shares the postc ...

and Pymble. Sheldon Forest is of high conservation status because it contains some of the last remnants of the endangered

Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest The Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest (STIF) is dry sclerophyll forest community of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is typically found in the Inner West and Northern region of Sydney. It is also among the three of these plant communities ...

(STIF) and

Blue Gum High Forest The Blue Gum High Forest of the Sydney Basin Bioregion is a wet sclerophyll forest found in the northern parts of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It has been classified as critically endangered, under the New South Wales government's ''Threa ...

(BGHF) in the Sydney basin. Bush regeneration programs have been implemented for many years. Invasive weeds such as

privet A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees, native to Europe, north Africa, Asia, many introduced and nat ...

, large leave privet,

wandering jew The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...

lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in ...

and camphor laurel continue to be troublesome. The historic 1st Turramurra Scout hall is located at the entrance to the forest from Warragal Road. The hall has been continuously in this location for over 60 years.

Walking Track

A walking track meanders through a range of plant communities. As you follow the track through the forest you will notice changes in the plant structure and associations. The change in plant associations occur because the underlying bedrock changes from shale to

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

. Three major communities will be obvious along your walk. The blue gum tall forest occurs on the ridge tops, while closed (or riparian) forest occurs along the creeks. On the hill slopes, sandstone supports an open forest-woodland community. The track can be accessed from six locations: * Warragal Road, Turramurra at the 1st Turramurra Scout hall *Warragal Road, Turramurra at the end of the road *Mimosa Oval, Turramurra *Jubilee Avenue, Pymble *Kimbarra Road, Pymble *Troon Place, Pymble

References

Forests of New South Wales Protected areas of New South Wales Geography of Sydney {{Sydney-geo-stub